The Fawn Abyss

The Fawn Abyss explores the emotionally fraught terrain of family, belonging, and injustice against the pastoral backdrop of the Delmarva Peninsula on the Chesapeake Bay. Steeped in memory, Tavel's poems conjure a cast of cultural ghosts -from Abraham Lincoln to Sam Cooke-in their documentary investigations of the past, including the poet's own youth. These retrospections, buoyed by wry wit and cinematic detail, sustain the collection and anchor it in our own whiplash age. Throughout, Tavel's poetic range, keen car, and tenacious heart find full expression. Lyrical, mythic, and unflinching, The Fawn Abyss grieves the seemingly inevitable destruction of innocence while affirming the promise of renewal, transporting readers from "the river's glinting bone-cage" to a sonogram's "bean-body and nubbin hands" reaching toward a brighter fate.