In Bloom by John Spiegel

John Spiegel’s debut collection, In Bloom, traverses the weeks before and the year immediately after becoming a new father. These poems journey through the complicated mix of uncertainty, anxious anticipation, and wistful reverie as they move to accept a new reality. In reflective series “Notes to Self” the speaker wades through hopes and fears, questioning himself and the balance of family life. Yet even as he struggles and asks, “where have I put myself?” these tightly-woven poems reveal a man transformed by his experience, ready to embrace what fatherhood requires. In Bloom explores the very particular and intensely questioning time of new parenthood with earnestness and sincerity.
–Laura Van Prooyen

In Bloom moves musings on kinship, fatherhood, and what it means to grow up human. Intimate and moving, lighthearted and serious, it’s a book of connection and consideration, of nature and nurture: tender, marvelous, and meaningful.  

–Hoa Nguyen, author of A Thousand Times You Lose Your Treasure