Brian Koester transforms deep wounds through the alchemy of language and the practice of poetry: "I will lie down / and listen to the larks / until the willow absorbs me." Raw, intimate verse, intense and uninhibited, I think of the confessional poets of the late 1950s and early 60s-Robert Lowell, Sylvia Plath, Anne Sexton-as I read Brian Koester's newest volume of poetry. ~ Diana Hayes, author of "Hawking the Surf"

In Why the Trumpet is Blue, three brothers wander into a garden of roses and poison, and nothing for them is the same afterward. Brian Koester's poems unveil crimes with stark images that reject beauty that is only toxic. These narratives subvert the language of would-be saviors and false prophets. There is so little refuge in these poems, which only magnifies the visions of love when they surface. This collection is elegant, its world offset and horrifying, inescapable, with an eternal North Star. - Mirande Bissell, author of Stalin at the Opera

I struggled to get through this collection. I know, not how a blurb would typically start. The struggle wasn't from not wanting to move on; the struggle was leaving the poem I just read. Leaving the line or turn of phrase, wanting to live in its essence for a few more breaths. There are poems here that will haunt you, but they are ghosts you want to visit and welcome in. Brian Koester created a collection that you keep close by, that years from now, your copy will have torn pages, a worn-out binding, maybe a coffee stain - that's how often you will revisit it. - Jason Melvin, author of Brother.

Koester's newest book of poetry. Koester touches on the personal losses and grievous events that have scarred his life.It is a deep delve into the subconscious conscious of a poet living with trauma, regret and subterfuge who manages to resurface stronger than ever