Weeds, by Selden Cummings

Poetry, chapbook, 32 pages, from Bottlecap Features.

In Weeds, Selden Cummings explores the experience of mythological and religious characters by adopting their perspectives and illuminating their stories. Traversing the psyche of various personae, this collection seeks to immerse the reader in the regret of Samson, the anguish of Eurydice, and the apprehension of David. From long-lined diatribes to quick, haiku-like paeans, Weeds examines how these ancient, fantastical lives seem to contrast, parallel, and inform our own.

The plant title of each poem serves to enrich the symbolism of each character’s story, creating a through line that weaves them together while posing the question: What is the difference between a weed and a wildflower?

Selden Cummings is a poet, writer, and musician from Santa Barbara, California. He currently resides in Brooklyn, where he still manages to find surf in between gigs with his band, footnote. His work has been published in Stanford’s Mantis Magazine, the New Croton Review, 86 Logic, Some Kind Of Opening, Chapter House Journal, and Matchbox Magazine. He earned his MFA in poetry from Columbia University in 2023.