Jonathan Cumberbatch

Parade is a meditation on belonging: on the occasional yearning to be seen within a wider society while also holding close the intimate truths that make us who we are. The poems bear witness to the joys and burdens of history, the weight of expectation, and the liberating power of self-acceptance.

My poems have simply kept coming over the years, often inspired by an impactful observation, conversation, or element of music, or as an emotional urge that simply spouts out in written words to present itself. Almost every poem here was once at least the length of a legal pad page but has been...

Almost every poem here was once at over a page-length, but has been pared down on every pass to speak to its individual essence only. Valentine’s Day is a personal musing on variable aspects of love as experienced and observed. I believe the subject is worth exploring as it appears (to me)...