My Lost Saints - Poems

In My Lost Saints, James Davis May leans in to listen to the dead, whose voices are "thin and out of focus" but just audible enough to offer hope for reconnection. Rather than being a cause for despair, in this book absence is instead the beginning of a search, one that traverses leaf-littered trails in Pennsylvania, the sites of ancient relics, airport terminals, medieval cities, and suburban cul-de-sacs. In this unshrinking exploration, May faces painful memories and challenging mysteries alike. Whether meditating on past struggles with mental illness, reckoning with the abuse and lies a parent endured as a child, navigating grief, or grappling with what role the divine plays in suffering, My Lost Saints ultimately finds a deep belief in friendship, decency, and love.