Crowed
Published on 1. January 2026
Book
Paperback/Softback
100 pages
978-1-970256-03-1 (ISBN)
Description
Michael Magee opens Crowed with a coffee-spill Rorschach crow, its bill dripping honey and mayhem. These poems travel across ethereal borders and find a man in honey who finds his way home from the pub after too many hours, who finds rain is no sorrow. And too, there is the mayhem of devastating fires,a man with a hose, where every road is a dead end, or the woman in "Bench Warrant" who is "rising on her own / after last night's collapse / the wind gone out of her." Crowed's shiny objects are life's joys and sorrows. They are a witch
in the woods and the ginger cat dreaming of a perfect love. -Kevin Miller, author of Spring Meditation and Vanish
Crowed should be read slowly and luxuriously for each poem is deeply layered and gorgeously told in stunning language. The subject matter is varied and intriguing, from encounters with birds to travels through Ireland and back through history. Each poem is a delight. In its entirety, the book is a wonder.
-Maggie Kennedy, author of The Unraveling Script
More details
Person
Crowed is Michael Magee's fifth collection of poetry and a Sally Albiso Prize finalist. In this collection he goes back to his Celtic roots, family, and friends and pays homage to those he's learned from. His most recent third third and fourth collections were Shiny Things and Budapest After Dark, published in 2025. His plays and poetry have been produced here and in England and Greece. New work appears in Open Book: Western Washington Poets Network Anthology and Cirque. He conducts writing workshops and appears on KTAH FM RadioTacoma, VerseDaily.Org, and The Writer's Almanac. Michael's poems reflect his interest in nature, theatre, music, literature, and travel. His mentors and friends have been David Wagoner, Ben Drake, and William Matchett, professors emeriti at the University of Washington. His musical influences include: Franz Liszt, Chopin, Lou Reed, Leonard Cohen, Marianne Faithfull, and Townes Van Zandt. He has lived in England and traveled in Ireland as well as Hungary, Morocco, and Turkey. He is recipient of a Jack Straw Residency and lives in Tacoma, Washington.