Into the Good World Again

Holy Cow! Press, 2023

Into the Good World Again: Poems is Max Garland's fourth collection, published in 2023, that uses the pandemic as a backdrop to explore themes of mortality, isolation, memory, and the resilience of nature, offering a way to find grace and meaning in a challenging world. The poems blend the cosmic with the infinitesimal, contrasting human suffering with the continuity of the natural world, and serve as a guide to re-engaging with life after a period of crisis. 

"A new book from Max Garland is always a cause for celebration, and Into the Good World Again delivers all the pleasures that readers expect from this poet—vivid, evocative imagery, musical language, inventive metaphors, and original, striking observations. But these poems are also full of wisdom, something only poets of the first rank--of which Max Garland is one--provide. And the wisdom in this remarkable collection is hard-earned, deeply felt, and often profound." —Larry Watson

“The good poems in Into the Good World Again are not just about emerging from a global pandemic; they infuse us with hope and joy after the darkness of our shared global experience and remind us of the strengths we needed to unearth. We recognize the song, but Garland’s new lyrics bring comfort and wisdom.” —Katrin Talbot