Along the Home Roads, by Andy Perrin

Poetry, chapbook, 36 pages, from Bottlecap Features.

Andy Perrin’s debut chapbook, Along the Home Roads, is a poetic exploration of the intersection of human emotion and the natural world. The poetry included in this collection is comprised of rich imagistic vignettes of moments in time, anchored to a sense of place within nature. The arc of this collection is embodied in the turning of four seasons, bridging one June to the following June. Each poem is a way station on a journey of discovery, and a deeper understanding of how our well-being is intertwined with the natural world. In deeply moving free verse, Perrin harnesses moments of enlightenment, loss, sorrow, grief and also healing, awe and profound joy.

The moments of inspiration for the twenty-five poems that comprise this collection were found along the roads and trails near Andy’s home in coastal southern Rhode Island (USA), where he lives with his wife and where they raised their two children. As an avid cyclist, Perrin spends a great deal of time riding along the coastal and inland roads and trails that begin at the end of his driveway. His writing largely grows from time spent being immersed in the nuances of all that nature offers from the fluid pace of his bicycle. Every draft of these poems  was shaped during those rolling meditations. In cycling parlance, the “home roads” of the title, are those roads which are ridden closest to home, and in fact, will always lead back home.

While many of the poems in this collection were born through a process of managing the grief associated with the sadness of loss, the underlying theme is one of strengthening and healing. Perrin hopes what the reader takes away from this collection of poems is that the natural world, just outside our doors, has the power and capacity to heal in powerful ways. The restorative capacity of nature and our ability to navigate the roads that wind through it are certainly at the core of our well-being. Please spend some time exploring this collection of poems and discovering what is to be found Along the Home Roads.

Andy Perrin is a cyclist, writer, photographer and history teacher from southern Rhode Island (USA), where he lives with his wife, and where they raised their two children. His poetry and photography have been published by a wide variety of journals and magazines including Black Bough Poetry, Stanchion, Door Is A Jar, Quibble Quarterly, East Ridge Review and Tiny Wren Lit among others. Andy was the featured poet for East Ridge Review in April 2024. He was nominated for a Best of the Net 2024 award in the category of art for his photography, as well as a 2024 Pushcart Prize for his poetry. Along the Home Roads is his debut poetry collection. You can connect with Andy through Instagram @andyperrincycling