John Paul Davis

Poetry

I’ve been writing poetry for most of my life. My most recent book is Climbing A Burning Rope, published by University of Pittsburgh Press in 2024. My first book, Crown Prince Of Rabbits, was published in December 2016. Check out the Books page for more about it. Or, peruse below to read poems I’ve had published in online literary magazines.

Climbing A Burning Rope

cover of The cover for John Paul Davis's book Climbing A Burning Rope

In Climbing a Burning Rope, John Paul Davis focuses his peculiar imagination, philosophical lyricism, and misfit spiritual outlook on life in the hypercapitalist twenty-first century where the inscrutable logic of algorithms haunts our constantly connected selves. Celebrating the weird and wild, lamenting wounds and weariness, Davis’s poems carve out a space in which we can reclaim what is sacred and be reminded to keep something of ourselves for ourselves.

Published by University of Pittsburgh Press in 2024.

Crown Prince Of Rabbits

cover of The cover for John Paul Davis's book, Crown Prince Of Rabbits

In Crown Prince Of Rabbits, John Paul Davis’s first full-length collection of poetry, Davis writes compellingly about the aftermath of “this American heartbreak” and the heart’s journey toward healing and wholeness. Set against the backdrop of his own history, current events, pop culture and an intimate landscape cluttered with electronic devices, Davis turns his keen eye on his own shortcomings, “every lame joke, missed connection, fumbled kiss, too-late comeback”, while raising his voice in celebration of the many blessings inside suffering and loneliness.

Davis maps a trail through both divorce’s deeply personal grief and the invasive and atomizing politics in an increasingly-divided America. Taking refuge in music and private tiny moments of the spirit, Davis approaches his subject with curiosity, wonder and openness in the face of sorrow and alienation, celebrating risk and the chance for love to heal love’s own wounds. “Rise up, dead man, / there is heartbreak & there’s music. So dance.”

Published by Great Weather For Media, Crown Prince Of Rabbits was published in 2017. (Check out the book’s page on Great Weather For Media’s site or check out the microsite for the book.)

Publications

  1. "Face Time" published in Elysium Review
  2. "What Can We Do With A Captured Asteroid?" published in Beaver Magazine
  3. "Autumn's First Frost" published in Stone Circle Review
  4. "Zipper" published in The Flordia Review
  5. "Dream Thieves" published in The Mantle
  6. "The Zone" published in The Mantle
  7. "Upgrade Blues" published in Lenticular
  8. "Mid–Life" published in Lenticular
  9. "The Insurance Companies Require Each Office to Meet Certain Performance Targets" published in Lenticular
  10. "Joe Talbot's Singing Voice" published in FreezeRay Poetry
  11. "Season Finale" published in FreezeRay Poetry
  12. "Dark Mode" published in Quaranzine Club (scroll down)
  13. "Quarantine Days" published in Quaranzine Club (scroll down)
  14. "Ode To The Sink Full Of Dirty Dishes At 6AM" published in Quaranzine Club (scroll down)
  15. "Smaller & Smaller" published in Quaranzine Club (scroll down)
  16. "Quarantine Voices" published in Quaranzine Club (scroll down)
  17. "Poem To Be Recited While Washing My Hands" published in Quaranzine Club (scroll down)
  18. "Headphones" published in Another Chicago Magazine
  19. "Elexxxion" published in Rattle
  20. "Selfie" published in Salamander
  21. "Stain" published in COG
  22. "Emergency" published in COG
  23. "Smartphone" published in COG
  24. "Merger" published in No, Dear
  25. "Idle" published in No, Dear
  26. "Robot" published in Blue Earth Review
  27. "Gender" published in Matador Review
  28. "Animals" published in Matador Review
  29. "Trying" published in Calamus Journal
  30. "Self" published in Apricity
  31. "Sound" published in Apricity
  32. "Fuel" published in 45th Parallel
  33. "Body" published in Drunk In A Midnight Choir
  34. "American Funeral" published in Word Riot
  35. "Advice To A Young Writer" published in FreezeRay Poetry
  36. "20 Questions For Jay-Z" published in FreezeRay Poetry
  37. "Emperor Of Drones" published in Radius
  38. "Love Song With Drones & Wiretaps" published in Radius
  39. "John Woolman''s 21st Century Blues" published in Radius
  40. "Bicycling Home At Dusk I Closed My Eyes & Let Go & Saw The Rabbits" published in Four Way Review
  41. "The Blank Yorke" published in Jet Fuel Review
  42. "A Geology" published in Wherewithal
  43. "Winter Compline" published in Denver Syntax
  44. "Ode To The Bite Mark You Left On My Right Shoulder" published in The Legendary
  45. "Outside Of Poetry" published in The Legendary
  46. "10-9" published in Drunk In A Midnight Choir
  47. "Year Of The Game Face" published in Drunk In A Midnight Choir
  48. "Toasts To David Byrne" published in The Museum Of Americana
  49. "Beard" published in The Journal
  50. "Passwords" published in deComp
  51. "Self-Portrait As A Husband" published in Bat City Review
  52. "Lazy Eye" published in Sentinel Quarterly
  53. "Exit, Pursued By A Bear" published in Sentinel Quarterly
  54. "My Father's Record Player" published in Beech Street Review
  55. "Department of Homeland Insecurity" published in I Let Go Of The Stars In My Hand