What We Ache For on Thursday

“they will be hushed, awestricken by your daring act—by just how effortless you make suffering appear.” —Eric Morago

What a surreal honor to be writing this particular #tbtFeature for September! Getting to re-read What We Ache For, again (and again and again) was such a nostalgic experience, especially since exactly ten years ago I got to meet the author, Eric Morago, at my very first poetry reading.

Poem after poem on the mic and in the book, Eric Morago continues to leave the listeners and readers awestruck. There’s such a rawness to each poem in What We Ache For that your heart genuinely tastes the ache. His words transport you so vividly to that specific time or place being described, whether it’s a Walgreens at 11:00 p.m. or on a bicycle falling, you find yourself there, fixated so deeply on the scene unfolding. Just read these snippets here.

One of the beauties of What We Ache For is how interconnected the poems are—each one flows perfectly into the next, sometimes with shared words or concepts like that of scabbed skin or the fragility of a butterfly. It’s also such a refreshing read especially in this day and age, when hearing of a man’s vulnerability in love and relationships is still somewhat of a rarity. I remember those poems echoing in my ears for a whole decade and getting to dive deep into them again for this throwback was an absolute pleasure! It was this book, these poems, that inspired me to keep pursuing the possibilities of what poetry could become and I am so grateful for them. I highly recommend that you experience this magical ache too!

What We Ache For is available on www.moontidepress.com/books for 20% off, this month only, in honor of Eric Morago’s birthday month! Eric is also the current publisher and Editor-in-chief of Moon Tide Press, so celebrate with him and get your copy today.