Cry Foul the Blink of a Watchman by Russell Dorn

FREE December 13th to December 17th, 2016.

In Cry Foul the Blink of a Watchman, Russell J. Dorn takes readers for an often somber, sometimes joyful, and occasionally humorous ride through the teenage years and early twenties of an introspective young American man. Written as a private catharsis of remorse, lost love, and guilt, Dorn opens up this dark collection of poems for others to read for the first time, in hopes readers might find common feelings, shared experiences, life between the lines, and occasional bits of beauty. Topics such as blame, loneliness, inequality, relationships, and depression, as well as more fantastical themes such as werewolves, mermaids, folklore, romance, and Mountain Dew are within. Sharp and unapologetically brutal on issues of anxiety, unrequited love, religion, and human nature, this collection doesn’t shy away from tough or haunting topics.

The poem settings take place in a stark landscape of the cold desert of northern Nevada, as well as in landscapes of the poet’s imagination. Here we take a look through the crack in the mirror to glimpse the other crooked side in order to explore perspectives, psychology, and doubt. Here also is an examination of life in Reno, a twenty-four seven, casino town and the surrounding valleys. These poems from the creator of Felipe Femur the Skeleton and his ironic monster friends transport the reader into the complex adult landscape under the skin—the bones of the matter, the underlying structure. Gain insight to the mind that created the Halloween town of Toonstone with these often gloomy verses too poignant for the faint of heart.

Honest to the core, Russell J. Dorn never dilutes or dulls the sharpness of his words.