Mike Fedel

Provisional Conclusions Mike Fedel

A diagnosis of ADHD at age fifty-five can make you stop and think. So can losing your daughter to a drunk driver two days after her eighth birthday-or looking up at the majesty of the Big Buddha in Phuket after getting lost in the mountains on the way there. Spanning a period from high school in the seventies until a few hours before it went to the editor, the poems in Provisional Conclusions explore these topics and more: being a parent, being a man, living with ADHD, the legacy of Howard Thurman, the myth of objectivity, the delight and terror of raising a family, the dreams of Korczak Ziolkowski, and even a quick peek into hell. Poet Mike Fedel also considers race, sex, love lost and found, philosophy, consciousness, and God-what is she like, anyway? Sections include "Thinking Out Loud," "The ADHD Chapter," "Loss," and "Love and Nervous Energy." Offering accessible observations on a wide range of topics, the verses in this collection consider the raw emotions associated with love, grief, and ADHD. "...powerful and poignant poems which capture a father's experience of losing his 8 year-old daughter..." -Irving Leon, Ph. D. "...the poetry of a brilliant, often misunderstood ADHD mind, trapped in a linear world..." -Suzanne Ostrowski-Dansel, M. Ed., ACC "...fresh, moving poems by Mike Fedel, an important new voice in music and now in poetry..." -Anna Boothe, Author of "I Already Love You," "Beyond Words," and "Buddha."