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Books by Ed Harkness
The Law of the Unforeseen front cover.pn

"If the law of the unforeseen is ever formally codified, those who seek its establishment may want to consult this version, by Edward Harkness.  The Law of the Unforeseen examines the present, the now that is a mystery until the moment it arrives.  It’s a beautiful instant, then it’s the past.  The law Harkness speaks of requires us to know now and then.  We walk under “the trees of unremembrance,” so that we may know who we are, how we got here, and who we came from.  And we arrive in this lovely, fragile, and threatened paradise called Earth, right now.  The “endless replication of clam shells, ants, / hyacinths in spring”?—it’s true, we will lose those things, individually, but these poems savor such stuff, and in that savoring they give us hope for the future." 

--Robert Wrigley, author of Box and The Anatomy of Melancholy.

Ice Children: Poems and Poetry by Ed Harkness

Ice Children, published in 2014, by Split Lip Press. This chapbook collection placed as runner-up in the Split Lip Uppercut Chapbook Awards. Contest judge Michael Meyerhofer wrote this: "Taut one moment, hilarious the next, Ed Harkness' poems readily demonstrate the sheer, imaginative range of narrative poetry. Sometimes, they tighten their focus on seemingly common objects and events: the sound of frogs, the humor of nurses.  Other times, they widen their lens to take in the whole, breathtaking cosmos.  In all instances, though, they maintain a striking sense of humanity, offering up a kind of grace that our species may not quite deserve, but sorely needs."

Beautiful Passing Lives: Poetry by Ed Harkness

"In Beautiful Passing Lives (2010, Pleasure Boat Studio Press), Edward Harkness ranges freely in time and space, gleaning grace from moments small and large: from the weave of marsh grass to the ovens of Dachau. With an unflinching gaze, he considers events in history we'd rather forget, recording with exacting detail and an alternately dispassionate and fierce voice 'the dark we swim in.' .... These intimate poems, resonant with the voids of family, friends and mentors, lost and departed, chronicle all that is 'seen, unseen and deep,' reminding us that redemption is everywhere and of the power of art to transform. Like the best sleight of hand, they 'glitter still, and glide offshore on nothing." --Holly J. Hughes, author of Boxing the Compass and Sailing by Ravens.

Beautiful Passing Lives on Amazono
Saying the Necessary: Poetry by Ed Harkness

"Edward Harkness' poems pay acute attention to what we blithely call 'ordinary life.' Saying the Necessary is a book with an immense syumpathy for the world--the mystery of passing time, the bonds of family, the jangle of human speech. There's also a stubborn anger here, a speaking against the greed and stupidity of bad leadership. Edward Harkness is a remarkably deft and accessible poet. His faith in the redemptive power of words is an inspiration." --David Long, author of The Falling Boy and The Inhabited World.

Saying the Necessary on Amazon

Additional Chapbooks Include:

 

Syringa in Twilight, Red Wing Press, 2010

Watercolor Painting of a Bamboo Rake, Brooding Heron Press, 1994

Fiddle Wrapped in a Gunny Sack, Dooryard Press, 1984

Long Eye Lost Wind Forgive Me, Copper Canyon Press, 1975

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