Self-Portrait with Spurs and Sulfur

Part fun-house hall of mirrors in its distorted and dizzying central narrative, part spaghetti western, and part prayer, Self-Portrait with Spurs and Sulfur is an exploration into the possibilities of storytelling. Through persona poems and odes, the collection argues that the muddier the narrative, the closer the story gets to truth.

“By stoking the image-embers and syllable-sparks found in myths, the Bible, and the American Southwest, Casey Thayer has ignited his diction and his music. This is a linguistically thrilling and pictorial-rich book. . . . He reminds us love is myth, religion, and tenderly brutal landscape. Self-Portrait with Spurs and Sulfur is a dazzling debut.”–Eduardo C. Corral, author of Slow Lightning: Poems