At Last We Enter Paradise

Richard Jones

Richard Jones’s second collection is an ambitious, symphonic group of poems about grief, loss, and human separateness. Jones writes in the rhythms of natural conversation and with a relaxed tone, using narrative and a sharp eye for detail to create poems rich with parable-like, aphoristic wisdom. By ordering moments of mundane experience to reveal uncommon perception, Jones goes beneath the superficial to explore daily epiphanies that might otherwise be overlooked.

ISBN: 9781556590429

Format: Paperback

About the Author

Throughout his career, Richard Jones has written from a luminous interiority, in deceptively simple, elegant language. His complex and intimate poems are spare, intentional models of clarity and restraint. Yet the formal quietness and the clear style belie neither the poetry’s soulfulness nor the poet’s intelligence; rather, such lucidity attains a kind of radiance. Richard Jones’s sixteen books include Apropos of Nothing (Copper Canyon, 2006), The Correct Spelling & Exact Meaning (Copper Canyon, 2010), and Stranger on Earth (Copper Canyon, …

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Reviews

“A compelling sincerity marks these poems, a poignant grief that captivates the reader without ever becoming sentimental… To read At Last We Enter Paradise is to share in a beautiful and memorable catharsis.” —Library Journal

“Jones writes brief, simple poems about isolated incidents while gracefully alluding to the complex relationships underlying them.” —Publishers Weekly

“Jones captures the complexity of human relationship in carefully selected detail.”— Contemporary Literary Criticism

“Richard Jones’s… poetry finds its strength in its deceptive simplicity… The poems resonate and call us back long after the pages have been turned.” —Elliott Bay Booknotes

“I am refreshed by Jones’s delicacy, compassion, and… purpose.” —Poetry

“In At Last We Enter Paradise, Richard Jones recognizes the bridges that connect all of us.” —Virginian-Pilot