Collections
Below are the collections of Larew's books of poetry.
Some of the collections are out of print while others are still available from the publisher. Hover over the cover for more information.
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Mud Ajar
In its very speak of twigs, with all of its flies over pies, and for its every rake on a shoulder... here's a rucksack of poem adventures!
What Hiram Larew offers in this fifth collection is a grateful glisten of poems. Many were written as outdoor rambles during the 2020-21 pandemic. Others look back over a shoulder at what seems long ago. And some are simply puddles of ponder. But above and beyond all of that, with eyes that love sound and hearts that gleam, Larew's Mud Ajar is an opening that's not meant to end.
When I speak twig
above me
the sounds are unimaginable
Each swollen bud laces its shoes
and those earwigs their pinches
squeak out to my growing
gold days
They grab my damp heart in-waiting…
— from In-Waiting
Undone
His fourth collection, Undone, was published by FootHills Publishing and is available for purchase. This collection includes poems such as Custard, Undone, and the mini-essay, The Power of Poetry.
From this far away
The Civil War and Revolutionary War
Seem like custard to me
That’s not to minimize the horrors
But it is to say that I have learned to accept my aging face
and all the sweets that come with ghostings
— from Custard
Utmost
His third collection, Utmost, was published by I. Giraffe Press and is currently out of print. It includes poems such as Render, Out Here, and Boy Howdy.
Modern life hurts me
Would that I could die in the arms
Of seed catalogues
Or turn over in a bed and feel
Snow coming in the window
— from Boy Howdy
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More Than Anything
His second collection, More Than Anything, was published by Vrzhu Press and is available on Amazon. It includes poems such as Hope, One More Thing, and Go Rouse James.
Don’t Tell Anyone
The hardest thing to do is keep
Or stay
When most of what we do sneaks out
Away
Or turns cousinish on us
Largely put
Ours isn’t ours ever
It couldn’t be
We need to learn to haven’t
To pine for never
To unlove love
To trust the weather.
Part Of
Larew’s first collection, Part Of, was published by the City of Baltimore, Maryland (USA) as the winner of the City’s ArtScape competition. Now out of print, the collection was selected by juror, Belle Waring, and includes poems such as Boat, By Watching, and What I Learned at the Barber.
There are better ways of learning
Ways as ready as your bird box
There are better people
Ones who get polished by the wind
And there are better seeds
The kind that wait a year or two.
— from Better Seeds