by Christopher Bogart

“Christopher Bogart’s poems demonstrate that poetry’s embrace can include the idea of justice and the feeling of outrage.”

—Robert Pinsky, United States Poet Laureate (1997–2000)

The Eater of Dreams begins with a vulgar curse and ends with an open question. The poems tell stories of the journey that begins in the hells of the poorest sections of Central America and ends with the hope of salvation in a new land.

The title refers, in a narrow sense, to the poem that tells of what happens to those whose lives and dreams are chewed up under the wheels of the freight train known as The Beast. In a greater sense, it refers to all of the obstacles: violent gangs, drug cartels, Mexican immigration authorities—all the dangers these migrants face on their journey north to the US. Each year, only forty percent of those who begin the journey make it to the border. One out of every five of these migrants is an unaccompanied minor. Two out of every five, men and women, are raped (or worse) by gangs or drug cartels. Some either drown in the Rio Grande or die of thirst in the American deserts. Approximately 500 bodies are either washed up on the shores or found in our deserts each year. But they keep coming because, for them, paradise could be just one more hell away.

About the Author

Christopher Bogart is a retired educator and a working poet and writer with an MA in Creative Writing from Monmouth University. He began his MFA at Monmouth University in the fall of 2019.

His poetry has been published in Voices Rising from the Grove, Spindrift, WestWard Quarterly, Saggio Poetry Journal, The Monmouth Review (2013 and 2014), Mind Murals (2013), Whirlwind Review (Fall 2014), The Howl of Sorrow, a Collection of Poetry Inspired by Hurricane Sandy, This Broken Shore (Summer 2015. 2018),  Jersey Shore Poets/First Edition, as well as various online sites.

In 2015, he was chosen as First Runner Up for Monmouth University’s inaugural The Joyce Carol Oates Award for Excellence in Fiction, Poetry, and Creative Non-Fiction. In 2017, he was chosen as one of two finalists for The Brian Turner Literary Prize for Fiction. His chapbook about the Yuma 14, entitled 14: Antología del Sonoran, was awarded The Poetry Box Chapbook Prize (3rd Place) and  published in October, 2018  by The Poetry Box. One of the poems in the collection, “Abraham Morales Hernandez,” was nominated for a Pushcart Prize for 2018.

He is presently writing poetry and short stories, translating the poetry of Federico Garcia Lorca and Arthur Rimbaud into English, and is working on his first novel, tentatively titled The Beast, about the plight of two Honduran teenage migrants who flee poverty and crime of Central America in search of a better life in the United States of America.

Early Praise for The Eater of Dreams:

Chris Bogart gives a voice to thousands who have been “tossed so very far away.” The crisis at our southern border is front and center in this collection; you can’t look away and you can’t ignore the cries of those who have suffered and continue to suffer today. He reminds you that right now people are dying for opportunity and even for those who find it in America, there are still tears to be shed over those left behind: the living, the mutilated, and the dead. Chris takes you on their journey on train tops, through scorching deserts, to the pristine lawns of those who hardly notice so you always know the scenery, but you don’t always know their names. When you make it to the end of the book, you’ll know that shaking your head is not enough.

~ Jennifer Stahl Brown, Poet, Writer

A deeply humane and thoughtful collection that speaks eloquently and urgently to our time.

~ Melissa Febos, author of Whip Smart and Abandon Me

In 1988, critics turned against U2 for the concert film Rattle and Hum. It was too earnest, too polemical for their tastes. (The band’s appearance of the cover of Time six months earlier as “Rock’s Hottest Ticket” clearly notwithstanding). In his most recent collection, The Eater of Dreams, Christopher Bogart risks a similar earnestness, writing with elegance and compassion about “the migrant experience” and “the humanitarian crisis on our Southern border” as a poet profoundly unsettled, outraged even, by the facile, reductive rhetoric of such terms. The actual crisis, Bogart’s poems insist, is in our turning away from the lived experience of anyone who dares imperil themselves in the name of liberty, of human rights, of dignity. The poems in The Eater of Dreams command our attention for refusing to ignore this fact. May we each have the courage and the strength to bear them witness, to not turn away.

~ Dr. Derek Pollard, Poetry Editor, The Evelyn Review

In the final line of The Eater of Dreams, Chris Bogart asks us to face our own complicity in the countless tragedies that play out at our nation’s borders: “Who were we?” Are we Christine, who grimaces upon hearing Spanish at her checkout counter? Are we the cops, the government officials? Are we, like Dante’s Uncommitted, who scream at the gates of Hell which read: “Abandon all hope ye who enter here?” In spite of the tragedies in these poems, Bogart says no. Bogart says, “Beyond the fetid outposts balanced on the banks of stagnant dreams/ … I dream.”

~ Lauren Marie Schmidt, author of Filthy Labors

Christopher Bogart’s poems demonstrate that poetry’s embrace can include the idea of justice and the feeling of outrage.

~ Robert Pinsky, United States Poet Laureate (1997–2000)

Enjoy Christopher Reading from His New Books:

Christopher Bogart — A Feature of The Poetry Box LIVE – October 2020

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by Christopher Bogart

Breakpoint is a collection of poems that speaks to a nation in crisis. Its poetry is commentary on a country that was built on the promise of the American Dream, and yet is now led by a president who, in 2015, declared that “The American Dream is dead!”

It explores the nightmares of Trump’s America: the rise of white supremacy, the separation of 5,400 migrant children from their families, the resurgence of virulent racism and the rise in hate crimes against Muslims, Jews, and people of color. These poems explore the promise our forefathers made of an American Dream – a dream enshrined in the words of the Declaration of Independence, on the base of the Statue of Liberty and in the hearts of immigrants who have come to America in search of that Dream.

This is a call to action, to protest, to participate and to break the silence of indifference—a silence we can no longer afford if we want the promises of America’s past to be fulfilled in the present, and to guarantee American’s future.

About the Author

Christopher Bogart is a retired educator and a working poet and writer with an MA in Creative Writing from Monmouth University. He began his MFA at Monmouth University in the fall of 2019.

His poetry has been published in Voices Rising from the Grove, Spindrift, WestWard Quarterly, Saggio Poetry Journal, The Monmouth Review (2013 and 2014), Mind Murals (2013), Whirlwind Review (Fall 2014), The Howl of Sorrow, a Collection of Poetry Inspired by Hurricane Sandy, This Broken Shore (Summer 2015. 2018),  Jersey Shore Poets/First Edition, as well as various online sites.

In 2015, he was chosen as First Runner Up for Monmouth University’s inaugural The Joyce Carol Oates Award for Excellence in Fiction, Poetry, and Creative Non-Fiction. In 2017, he was chosen as one of two finalists for The Brian Turner Literary Prize for Fiction. His chapbook about the Yuma 14, entitled 14: Antología del Sonoran, was awarded The Poetry Box Chapbook Prize (3rd Place) and  published in October, 2018  by The Poetry Box. One of the poems in the collection, “Abraham Morales Hernandez,” was nominated for a Pushcart Prize for 2018.

He is presently writing poetry and short stories, translating the poetry of Federico Garcia Lorca and Arthur Rimbaud into English, and is working on his first novel, tentatively titled The Beast, about the plight of two Honduran teenage migrants who flee poverty and crime of Central America in search of a better life in the United States of America.

Early Praise for Breakpoint:

In Breakpoint, poet Christopher Bogart speaks out directly and powerfully against injustice in today’s America. These poems explore the brutal echoes of past history that play out all too vividly in our current events, shining light on the social and political faces of our divided country’s broken promise. In this stirring collection, Bogart decries our wrongs, yet still holds out hope for a more humane America.

~ Linda Johnston Muhlhausen, author of Elephant Mountain

(寧為太平犬，不做亂世人) is usually translated as “It’s better to be a dog in a peaceful time than be a man in a chaotic period.” Ironically, we have a cur for a president, and he has rendered our country chaotic. Chris Bogart’s poems reflect the range of emotional outrage DJT and his pack have induced in us. The book might be too intense if Bogart had not added the penultimate poem which leaves us hope. But that hope is spurious if we do not act. And our most important act is to vote.

~ R.A. Luc, MD

In trying times, Christopher Bogart reminds us of their genesis, their metastases, and their potential cures. “Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passion, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence,” John Adams said, but these poems put those stubborn facts in contexts—some original to them, some new in our history—that offer hope for broader understanding and appreciation of their present significance.

~ Daniel Zimmerman, poet, author of The Interrupted Breath

Through the power of his passionate poetry, Christopher Bogart dares to ask what happened to the American dream. He charges us to remember that the realization of this dream began, not ended, with the founding of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, 1620. Through his poems he begs the question, what became of our heritage, the “Land of the Pilgrims’ pride.” By reminding us that the promise of America was meant by our forefathers to be a continuing process, he challenges us, the readers, to take action and “…be the force of change within us all.

~ Susan Martin, author of Forty-fifth Reunion

In Breakpoint, author Christopher Bogart writes in the preface, “To be silent—to do nothing now—is probably the greatest existential threat to the future of American democracy, our democracy. It’s a silence we can no longer afford.”  Bogart’s poetry certainly disturbs that silence, hovering in the space between the American Dream and the American Nightmare. Using diverse references from The Bible, Martin Luther King, Jr, Malcolm X, Ronald Reagan, Aristotle, and Abraham Lincoln among others, Bogart frames his poems which serve as commentary on current events and his views on American in the Trump era. Poignant images linger after each reading: the wall, the snake, the dead baby in her father’s arms, leaving the reader with an uneasy feeling that the American dreams of the past may also be taking its last breath too.

~ Liz deBeer, MA, EdD, retired English teacher, Fair Haven, NJ

From the beginning of this book Christopher Bogart proudly lets his position be known, unashamed and unafraid to kowtow to the destructive myth of false equivalencies. Bogart accurately recognizes that the right-wing remains pathologically focused on a past that never existed and drags us all down into a world of rigged elections, conspiracy theories and blatant misinformation. Bogart’s words shine through the lies to offer a better America. One of understanding and tolerance. Of multiculturalism and open mindedness. That despite its flaws, is an America that offers hope and the promise of a better life. Bogart believes in the best of America. That through education and interaction we can overcome ignorance. Bogart rejects the apathy and cynicism of many of his compatriots and fights with the best weapons he has available—his words.

~ Christian Perez, professor, Brookdale Community College

Christopher Bogart compares the current state of affairs in the Trump Administration with the democratic values defined in our Constitution. The author presents the reader with intelligent, thoughtful descriptions of the assaults by the Trump Administration on the country’s social mores, governance and institutions, not through blatant partisan rhetoric, but uniquely through his poetry. I eagerly anticipate gifting this wonderful book of poetry to friends and family to foster hope and change in these challenging times.

~ Anne G. Fox, RN,
New Jersey State Refugee Health Coordinator, retired

Christopher Bogart addresses the nightmare of this American moment through a series of binary oppositions, lies/truth, silence/protest, and others. Alluding to the deep festering divisions that are the foundation of our injustices he compellingly places contemporary problems in the context of the long arc of history. Calling forth myths, both ancient and recent, he unflinchingly offers not only the horrors but the comforts of hope, suggesting that we have been through this, many times, before and we will once again emerge into the light.

~ Frank Ramme, artist, activist

Wordsmith Chris Bogart crafted the Breakpoint with utmost precision. Through the ageless eloquence of poetry, he shines a light on the xenophobic paranoia and seething racial and ethnic injustice that engulfs our nation and threatens its very existence. An essential read for those who care about the future of America—a country now under siege—a country that must search for its soul—a country that must rekindle the true American Dream.

~ Robert Starosciak, author of The Bobby Fulton Story

Enjoy Christopher Reading from His New Books:

Christopher Bogart — A Feature of The Poetry Box LIVE – October 2020

The post Breakpoint appeared first on The Poetry Box.

by Christopher Bogart

A Poetry Box Chapbook Prize Selection – Third Place (tie)

Twenty-six Mexican migrants were discovered in the Sonoran desert near Yuma, Arizona. Twelve of them were wandering around the desert, delirious and dying of thirst. Fourteen were taken by pickup truck to the morgue. The deceased became known as the “Yuma 14.” These poems tell their story.

About the Author

Christopher Bogart is a retired educator and a working poet and writer with an MA in Creative Writing from Monmouth University. His poetry has been published in Voices Rising from the Grove, Spindrift, WestWard Quarterly, Saggio Poetry Journal, The Monmouth Review (2013, 2014), Mind Murals (2013), Whirlwind Review (Fall 2014), The Howl of Sorrow, a Collection of Poetry Inspired by Hurricane Sandy, This Broken Shore (Summer 2015, 2018) and Jersey Shore Poets (First Edition).

In 2015, he was chosen as First Runner Up for Monmouth University’s inaugural The Joyce Carol Oates Award for Excellence in Fiction, Poetry, and Creative Non-Fiction. In 2017, he was chosen as one of two finalists for The Brian Turner Literary Prize for Fiction. He is presently writing poetry and short stories, translating the poetry of Federico Garcia Lorca and Arthur Rimbaud into English, as well as working on his first novel, tentatively titled The Beast, about two Central American teenage migrants who flee poverty and crime in search of a better life in America.

What They’re Saying  . . .

“A cautionary tale written in dried blood, and a grim portrait of the consequences of impossible choices.”

~ Gregg G. Brown, publisher, BLAST PRESS

“An informal and empathetic document as well as a poetic sequence, 14: Antología del Sonoran elegizes and gives voice to those no longer able to speak their stories. Christopher Bogart’s risky yet respectful poems honor the names of these dead, and insist that nothing can sever the bonds that connect us to each other.”

~ Michael Waters, author of The Dean of Discipline

“The quiet calm of the poems in Christopher Bogart’s 14: Antología del Sonoran heightens the despair in the individual stories of these fourteen doomed men and lays bare the tragedy of lives lost in the simple yearning for human dignity.”

~ Daniel Weeks, author of For Now: New & Collected Poems, 1979-2017

“‘The U.S. – Mexican border es una herida abierta where the Third World grates against the first and bleeds,’ Gloria Anzaldúa wrote in 1987. Three decades later, the open wound has grown deeper and wider, the need to address it and assist with the healing more urgent than ever. A poet citizen sharply aware of the power and limitation of art to bring about change, Christopher Bogart reminds us of the complicitous nature of silence.  Soul-wrenching in the directness and sparseness with which they capture each voice, the poems of 14: Antología del Sonoran speak of lives trapped in a system that makes dreaming for dignity a death sentence. Each poem performs a ritual that mourns, restores robbed dignity, and cries for justice.”

~ Mihaela Moscaliuc, Associate Professor at Monmouth University, author of Father Dirt and Immigrant Model

“Christopher Bogart resurrects the ‘Yuma 14’ who died on the Devil’s Highway that links Mexico to Arizona, seeking the kind of life most Americans take for granted. As their bodies lie in the burning desert or in the brilliant light of the morgue they tell us their stories, their dreams, their hopes. But this is not a book about hope. No, hope is not welcome here, just as these souls were not welcome in our country. ‘For her I wanted so much more,’ says one about his now fatherless daughter. ‘It was hard to believe I was dead,’ whispers another.”

~ Peter E. Murphy, Founder, Murphy Writing of Stockton University

“The distant deaths of ordinary people usually don’t make the news headlines and can be too easily ignored. In 14: Antología del Sonoran, Christopher Bogart rescues 14 such deaths from obscurity and into compassionate focus, bringing their humanity to life. These were 14 men – among the unnumbered migrants – who risked everything to seek the American Dream of making better lives for themselves and their families. Bogart documents each man’s death in poems that are both stark factual accounts and movingly eloquent portraits of individuals who dared to dream – and lost to the vast wasteland of the Sonoran Desert. Written with economy of language and vivid details, these poems bear witness to a daily human tragedy that, once you cross the border between knowing and not knowing, is unforgettable.”

~ Linda Johnston Muhlhausen, author of Elephant Mountain

“Christopher Bogart sets his beautiful language against harsh, hellish landscapes, which mirror hardships faced by the men he writes about. Here is the hero’s journey with little hope of transformation, or victory. These men accept the challenge despite the odds, and in these carefully crafted snapshots of their lives, Bogart shows us a terrifying sadness, beauty and bravery.”

~ Deborah LaVeglia (Moderator: “PoetsWednesday,” The Barron Arts Center)

Book Launch Readings:

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