The Red-Tail, by Adam Sarlan

Poetry, chapbook, 40 pages, from Bottlecap Features.

The Red-Tail collects seventeen different birds important to the poet’s life- bluejays, cormorants, geese, egrets, and gulls, among others. The poet finds a certain wisdom and friendship in these birds while studying their everyday habits and listening to their teachings. The poems in The Red-Tail challenge us to sit with the birds, listen to and learn from their lessons, and continue to “rise to these trills / every morning with pleasure, / with joy for this simple life.”

This debut chapbook also explores the idea of living a life “worth writing a chorus about” while mourning lost loved ones. The poet finds comfort and solace in nature amidst grief, and argues that to truly begin to live a life of happiness and self-acceptance after tragedy, one must connect with nature and “listen to her soft whispers of advice.” To live this new life, the poet asks the birds to guide him through this new reality with humility, optimism, and awe.

Adam Sarlan is an English major at Elms College in Chicopee, Massachusetts. His poems and essays have appeared in Cape Cod Times, Wilderness House Literary Review, and Hudson Valley Writers Guild.