My newest collection of poems is out!

Thanks to Kelsay Books for their continued support, as this is the third collection of mine they have published. They are a dream with which to work, always producing a beautiful book. I highly recommend Karen and her team to you.

I am indebted also, to Esther Van Overbeek whose exquisite photography graces the cover. Watch for a forthcoming interview with Esther here soon.

Gratitude also goes to Laurence Musgrove, Kelli Ann Ellis, and Spirit Thom for writing back cover and foreword blurbs for the book. These three poets of note were very kind and I appreciate their close reading and astute observations.

This collection speaks to breath as the common denominator among all living things and the cosmos, it speaks to breath as the Divine Presence, and to breath as prayer. The collection has a strong element of journey through my evolving understanding and experiencing of love as romantic, familial, and agape.

Here is a sample poem:

dusk

~after Andrea Hollander

this is what we call
the time for roosting
when birds return to the trees
the trees stark forms staunch 
against the waning light

this liminal space
between the day and the night

this is the time when humankind
come in from their doing
inhabit their caves 
and light a fire

here the whippoorwill and the owl
begin their calling into the dark
these are the uncertain hours
when shadows claim and swallow
all that you thought you knew

now the fox and the mountain lion
—hunting 
their nocturnal eyes
piercing         the veil

soon the dreamworld will resume
and what you have not learned
will return again and again

the moon will take hold of you
move your waters as she wills

and if you are lucky

you will find the only solace that comes
in the arms of someone you love

and one more sample poem:

she is     always 

love is a curious creature
that comes in the night—ransacking

the campsite      a thief   too
—she will steal    if you do not

secure what is yours

love is a shy creature
that comes in the night

chewing flesh      fresh vegetables
in neat rows         

i have witnessed this

love is wild creature
that comes in the night

unkempt and wanting
panting with desire

refusing to be groomed

love is a winged creature
that comes in the night

perches on a branch
silent & still ‘til dawn

—trusting you to feed her

some say      love comes 
& love goes       but i say

this is not so
for if she has gone

she has not gone far
 
she may be hiding—under a mossy log
she may have run—down the serpent’s hole

she may have taken flight—
but she is       always circling

she has learned who will feed her

& if this is all 
you have to give

she will learn      to live
on crumbs

If you’d like to own a signed copy, please send me your mailing address here and Venmo $21 (this is my cost plus postage) to DEllis-Phelps. In a short while, the book will be available on the publisher’s website. It is presently available on Amazon.

Finally, if you are near and available, I will be the featured poet at the monthly open mic of the Texas Hill Country Poets on April 9, 2026, 6:30-8:30 PM, next to the Boerne Book Shop, Boerne, Texas. Come listen and get your signed copy there!

Namaste,

d