Notes From The Bonfire: Poems In The Age of Coronavirus

In March of 2020, author Matt Nagin came down with coronavirus. Most of these poems were written during the five weeks he was trying to recover. They cover a range of subjects, although the overarching theme is the dystopian suffering unleashed by this global pandemic. The book also includes photography by Andrzej Jerzy Lech and illustrations by Natasha Yearwood. Interestingly enough, all three contributors were New York City residents at the time our home became the first U.S. epicenter, and, as result, the Big Apple is sort of the ghost in the machine, if you will, with the changes our city underwent often mirroring and compounding those within each contributor. Notes From The Bonfire is Nagin’s third poetry collection and includes work previously published in Gravitas, The Organic Poet, and Poetry In The Time Of Coronavirus. Matt has been writing poetry for twenty-five years, particularly when in trying situations. This time was no different. Composing these poems, during his battle with this insidious virus, at the height of the first outbreak, offered Matt a unique perspective on the damage wrought by this horrific scourge. We created this book in the hope it would be of some use to the many going through an extremely trying period. With that in mind, a portion of all proceeds from book sales will be donated to Doctors Without Borders. Finally, the book is called Notes From The Bonfire for a number of reasons. One of those is we’re hoping the cataclysmic fires of 2020 can be transformed into more of a purifying, celebratory bonfire. Additionally, the hope is that a few notes can be salvaged from all the wreckage, the chaos and destruction, that can make all we’ve endured more tolerable.