Many of these poems take place on the California beaches of Santa Barbara and Ventura during the morning hours. My impressions reflect the energy I feel walking along the coastline, the people I notice, and the objects stuck in sand. The sea is a glorious place to let your mind wander, and to be truly humbled by its beauty.
In "Uncommon Love Poems," I write about the quirky side of love. Love can be found everywhere. It is all around us and in unexpected places. Love is not just romantic; it can be platonic, elusive, illusionary, fanatical, spiritual, or unrequited. And sometimes, love is found in the kindness of strangers, the affection of animals, crows on a wire, and even the food prepared by caring hands. Love can be exhilarating but also uncomfortable, like riding a bumper car at an amusement park. -Mark Tulin
Mark Tulin is a surgeon of great majesty in a heartfelt verse. Like a well-trained physician, Mark Tulin brings extraordinary linguistic skills to bear on the injuries of neglect and abandonment. The author offers a compassionate operation through his poetry. Awkward Grace isa must read as a medication for moral sickness.—Tim Truzy, author of Plastic Bags and Medical Melodies Mark Tulin's chapbook of poems, Awkward Grace, is a fascinating read, specifically incorporating his theme, about people living on the marginal side of life. The collection of poems is both enthralling and enchanting, delving into both despair and hope, of those people in our society who are less fortunate. Readers will be emotionally touched with every one of the twenty-seven heart-felt pieces in the book.—Ivor Steven, Geelong Writers Inc., Australia A moving collection of downtrodden tales speckled with moments of virtue, humor, beauty, and calm. Tulin writes not just of deprivation but of the acceptance of it—a learned helplessness, a passivity, that fills the heart with that strange, sad beauty, with that awkward grace, that Edward Hopper once put to canvas. This is poetry with a mission, and it succeeds. —Brian Geiger, Editor of Vita Brevis Poetry Magazine