Welcome to the party. We're about to unleash the presents.Known for his dreamy abstraction and the emotional ferocity of his work both on the page and on the stage, Constantine has helped to shape the poetry scenes of Southern California. In his second collection, Birthday Girl With Possum, the poet continues to explore the illusion of knowledge and the facts of magic.Utilizing a dynamic blend of classic & colloquial diction, pop culture & historical references, this collection examines the invisible lines between wonder & disappointment, ecstasy & crime, savagery & innocence.No approach to writing (odes, codes, lectures, letters, tests & attendance sheets) is left unexploited as a means to poetry. It is a birthday card from the phenomenal world to our wildest selves.

Letters To Guns represents a collection of poems that examine the para-physical natures of love and history, at times re-imagining both. As the poems progress, eight letters arrive written by non-human addressees (a nightgown, a grove of trees, a wooden spoon, others) at random points over the last 2,200 years. They are messages from home and pleas for understanding, warnings and promises of change. These in turn ignite other poems and themes which anticipate the next arrival. Taken together, the letters form an armature, a living skeleton fleshed by real and metaphenomenal experience. Throughout, a variety of styles appear and no single approach to poetry pervades. Singly, these poems should challenge and entertain. As a group they must transform and evolve our experience of sitting down with a book of poems.

As with Constantine's previous titles, Dementia, My Darling can be enjoyed at random or in order. However, when taken in sequence, the poems construct a thesis on life as we remember it from moment to moment. What is your first memory of love? How soon will you forget answering that question?