Written under the spell of a medieval Welsh poetic form, the poems in Anthony Madrid's incantatory second book, TRY NEVER, each offer up their own strange world. They're full of erudition, humor, and rare magnificence. A single poem can contain "bottles and cans," Mount Everest, an upset stomach, Texas rain, a hawk, the evil queen, a "twice-mended lid," and Ralph; as if to say, anything's possible.

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Anthony Madrid was born in 1968, raised in Maryland. He is the author of four full-length books of poetry: WHATEVER’S FORBIDDEN THE WISE (CANARIUM BOOKS 2023), I AM YOUR SLAVE NOW DO WHAT I SAY (Canarium Books, 2012), TRY NEVER (Canarium Books, 2017), and THERE WAS AN OLD MAN WITH A SPRINGBOK (Prelude Books, 2019). He lives in Victoria, Texas with Nadya Pittendrigh.