About the book

8: Eight-word Poems is my tenth collection of poems. As of 15 December 2023, the print edition is out of print. Ebooks are still available.

Every month, I give myself a new writing challenge. When I had not come up with one by the time August 1 rolled around, I figured I’d try eight-word poems, since August is the eighth month of the year. This collection contains all the poems I wrote during the month of August 2017—all of them eight words (except the ones that were inadvertently seven words long, which I have fixed).

Softcover 5.5 x 8.5 in., 146 pages
Alarm Cat Press #ART 68
ISBN: 9780998878126
20 October 2017

Smashwords e-book edition (ePub & Kindle)
ISBN: 9781370923205
27 October 2017

Amazon Kindle e-book edition (Kindle)
ASIN: B076FMM7HH
27 October 2017

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What’s in the book

Unlike my previous books, 8: Eight-word Poems is not divided into sections. The poems are numbered, though, from 1 to 692; since I inadvertently skipped a number in the 50s, that means there are a total of 691 poems.

Subject-wise, it’s all over the place, covering most of the things I tend to write about, from introspective stuff to small moments to current events to random observations. Because of their length, many of these poems are haiku-like, some are silly, and some are cryptic.

I have found that numbering these poems provides a way to have fun when reading. Pick a number, then read the corresponding poem. (This works best with a group, of course.)

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(Revised 15 December 2023)