Out now
Do Us a Favor pulls the reader into spaces that may feel all too familiar. All too unbelievable. And, yet, all too real. Borrowing text from the infamous phone call between Donald Trump and the Ukrainian president, this chapbook explores the world as it was before, during, and after 2020. The narrator trundles down paths, through cafés and portals, onto lawns and into the topmost floors of skyscrapers, and even to outer space — all while confronting the narrow-mindedness and hate of others, the oppressive weight of existence, and a planet spiraling to a place that feels irretrievable.
“Do Us a Favor balances existential dread and hope, yet these are poems concerned with people, the concrete struggles individuals face on a daily basis. ‘Make these words brighter than a bonfire’—and this object is the poet’s practice. A powerful and necessary book.
—Charles Kell, author of Cage of Lit Glass
Kevin A. Risner 