In Bill Cushing's work, we see deep and loving reverence made to what matters, whether it is the band Otyken, or Fernando Valenzuela, or Lawrence Ferlinghetti or it is in learning reverence for life through Kung Fu or for the spirit of rebellion from those being oppressed. Cushing's work is a celebration of what matters. What we find in his work is what we find in the work of masters. He discusses the deeds of others and the detail of artistic moments, usually pop culture, to help give us a blue print to what matters in life. The Beast Inside is a collection that matters. It is a collection that needs to be read. John Brantingham (author, Life: Orange to Pear) In this haunting collection, The Beast Inside, Bill Cushing excavates the raw underpinnings of civilization, where the fractured body, the broken mind, the weight of familial inheritance, and the machinery of war grind on, indifferent to the human condition. Divided into The Reminiscent Self, The Formal Self, and The Dream-State Self, these poems peel back the illusion of surface, revealing with stark precision what lies beneath: the wife unmasked by time in Fallen Mighty, a father's love as a shield in Caring for a Cripple, a daughter with mental illness shackled in the attic (Unvarnished Truths), and the haunting absence of a father in While in My Dad's House, After His Funeral. Whether tracing the quiet devastations of family, exposing the grotesque appetite for power, or foretelling apocalypse in a world on the brink (Souvenirs, Bread and Circuses, Streaming at 9 Eastern), Cushing's verse bears witness to the fragility of life within us and around us. In To Smithereens, he distills the collection's core truth: the human perspective is a gift of exquisite fragmentation. "I live within an Escher woodcut where / linear perspective is fragmented." In a world that devours, he dares to bear witness. Emily Robin Clark (author, Morning Comes Roaring Down the Mountain)
I was delighted and quite honored to be asked by Poet Bill Cushing to write the foreword to what will soon be one of his most popular poetry collections. As a fellow poet, Bill's work has always resonated with me. It's thrilling that he is adding this new set of verse to his publications. All who have followed his work over the years, and new readers who will discover his talent through the medium of this new volume, will find their yearning for fine poetry fulfilled.
While reading through the manuscript, I was reminded of a powerful quotation about poetry penned by the enigmatic Edgar Allen Poe. Poe wrote "If a poem hasn't ripped apart your soul, then you haven't experienced poetry."
Trust me, there's a superabundance of ripping to be experienced within these pages.
You will discover this for yourself as you read through this stunning compilation. For within the framework of "self," this book is first and foremost a treasury of love poems-for family, friends, people Cushing has never met yet admires, and reactions to places and events. Mr. Cushing, as a miner of exquisite poetical skill, you have once again struck gold. Linda Imbler February, 2025
