The Soul We Share

Ricky Ray's poetry explores the pain and gratitude of our fleeting existence, measuring the ache of living in a disabled body against the joy of being lived by the places he inhabits. He accompanies his soul dog, Addie, through scenic woodlands, concrete jungles, and swamps, blurring the lines between humans, animals, and nature. The transformative experience of Ricky's life with an old brown dog teaches that soul is not merely something we possess but an animacy deeply shared.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 150 pages
Publication date: 26 July 2024
Publisher: Fly on the Wall Press

Ricky Ray's poetry explores the pain and gratitude of our fleeting existence through visceral and vulnerable language. He recognizes his humanity as a facet of natural processes and measures the ache of living in a disabled body against the joy of being lived by the places he inhabits. As we accompany him and his soul dog, Addie, through the scenic woodlands of New England, the concrete jungle of Manhattan, and the swamps of the Deep South, the lines between humans, animals, and nature begin to blur and move in concert. Shifting between forms both physical and elemental, we read of an existence lived not 'upon / but as one with the Earth, whose being we are throughout and beyond our brief sojourn as human. At the heart of this collection is the transformative experience of Ricky's life with an old brown dog, which teaches that soul isn't merely something we possess—it's an animacy deeply shared.

Weight: 166g
Dimension: 128 x 198 x 17 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781915789259