“The Sound of Falling,” poems by Vernon Fowlkes, Jr., was recently published by Negative Capability Press, and awaits a place in each readers' heart.

South Carolina Poet Laureate Marjory Wentworth says of this amazing new collection: “A testament to a life well-lived, 'The Sound of Falling' is a wise and beautiful collection of poetry. Sweeping through the losses and celebrations of one family’s history in ways that are quintessentially Southern, Vernon Fowlkes Jr.’s poems are rooted in his home place of Mobile. 'The Sound of Falling' beautifully articulates the journey of one man’s heart, beginning with the loss of the poet’s father and traveling through family history, marriage, raising a family and becoming a grandparent. The poems are brimming with images and sounds of the sea and the rain, as if the words were washed up on shore or found one morning after a storm.”

For the last 40 years, this poet has quietly honed his craft, with poems appearing in various magazines and literary journals across the country, among them “The Southern Review,” “Negative Capability,” “Elk River Review,” “The Texas Observer,” “Willow Springs,” “JAMA” and “Birmingham Arts Journal.”

With stunning lyric imagery and sure-footed voice, “The Sound of Falling” weaves a tapestry of memory and love, family and loss, grief and redemption, concluding, at last, that, “like time, love/burns as if a fire/that, no matter how/warm, is never long enough.”

Naomi Shihab Nye, author of “Transfer” (BOA Editions, 2011), and a chancellor of the Academy of American Poets, says Fowlkes’ poems “shine with presence and tender care,”and further, “his eye is widely tuned and closely focused at once, inviting us into deeper, kinder living. He reminds us why we are here.”

“Nothing is quite what it seems — hold on tight — for a big wind is stirring,” writes Rhode Island Poet Laureate Lisa Starr. “These poems are charged with the power of a breeze that’s been waiting quietly, gaining force and momentum and timing. The wind that stirs these pages blows with a quiet ferocity that is the hallmark of this amazing poet. Stand warned, friends, and hold on tight.”

Finally, Coleman Barks, author of Hummingbird Sleep (University of Georgia Press, 2013) and “The Essential Rumi” (HarperCollins), tells us “The Sound of Falling” is not for the fainthearted: “There is a true grief being lived through in this book. All the unspoken words and something no one can say, something you want but cannot have. A listening begins to happen and a profound waiting. There is a lot of courage in these poems.”

Vernon Fowlkes, Jr. lives in Mobile with his wife of 39 years, Mary. For more information or to book an event, email the author at bookings@vernonfowlkes.net. “The Sound of Falling” can be purchased online through Amazon.com. View the book trailer at youtube.com/watch?v=idA35DbJMCs.