The Halo

The Halo is quasi-autobiography about a man who has wings and wants desperately to simply be human. Tracking from adolescence through adulthood, it explores an accident that temporarily paralyzes him and exposes him to human weakness all the way to his transformation into something more powerful than even he realizes. It explores a personal evolution from being prey to becoming the hunter.

Praise for C. Dale Young

“Young's poems are so fierce and serrated.” —Jeff Gordinier, New York Times Book Review

“Young is a doctor as well as a poet, and [his work] demonstrates a skilled physician's combination of empathy and formal precision.” —David Orr, NPR

“Sometimes the ability to convey information compactly and quickly has moral grace. [Young's] writing can put garrulous narration or evasive speechifying to shame.” —Robert Pinsky, The Washington Post

“[W]e cannot rely on art to tell us the whole truth or even depend upon those who are supposed to protect us. And yet, [C. Dale Young] is compelled to make visible the darkness around us. Whether or not that itself is an act of tenderness, Young refuses to say for certain. And that is what makes his poetry a crucible where readers must confront their own beliefs—about poetry, society, and themselves.”
—Christopher Hennessy, Ploughshares