Disappearing by the Math

Matt Thomas's first full-length collection of poetry, Disappearing By the Math, is an exploration of middle age depicted as a series of instants in which the future and past coexist, nature is a daily barrage of questions, the Walmart and post office become locations of existential revelation, and God peers from the details like a cat from the weeds. Thomas has a way of transporting you to other spaces and times: some of them achingly familiar; others novel yet starkly inviting. These poems draw you in and break you; they grip the shoulders of nostalgia in ways both comforting and haunting. Sit with them. You will be glad for their company. ~ -Jennifer Yeatts, Co-Editor, Dunes Review Disappearing by the Math is romantic in how it connects us to nature and seeks wisdom from it, through an abundance of animals and the questioning of human actions, inventions, and intentions ... Matt Thomas presents the idea that when we are disconnected from the natural world, we must struggle to find purpose, "Maybe the frogs call us sad as a noun // because our parasitic brains have walled us off..." This collection urges readers to see the beauty in animals, to perceive the animal within, and to reflect on what it means to be human, which all adds up to acknowledging the violent cost of comfort. ~ Aly Allen, author of Paying for Gas with Quarters