Casey Thayer is the author of Self-Portrait with Spurs and Sulfur and Love for the Gun. His work has appeared in AGNI, American Poetry Review, Poetry, and elsewhere. He lives in Chicago.

Other poems by Casey Thayer in Verse Daily:
September 18 2015:   "Love Poem with Snake Handler & Church of God with Signs Following" "Not blood, the watery red handprint..."

Books by Casey Thayer:

Other poems on the web by Casey Thayer:
Two poems
"Reminding Myself That We Are Not Remarkable"
"Elegy with Crows and Canebrake"
Two poems
Two poems
"Black String of Days"
"Gospel According to Garth"
"Aquaman Thinks of His Youth"

About Rational Anthem:

"Casey Thayer's Rational Anthem tangles with the multi-fisted specter of masculinity, yet veers into tenderness and insight with a deftness that startles. It's a book of sharp, unforgiving edges and truths unveiled—all crafted with a canny lyricism that makes those truths shine new."
—Patricia Smith

"Casey Thayer is doing the hard work, wrapping hands around raw elegy and deeply entrenched traditions of violence in order to lift them to the surface. This is a stunning collection."
—Sandra Beasley

"Agile, musical, and tender, the poems in Rational Anthem move gracefully between states of irony, rage, humor, and grief. I love how this collection demonstrates how love mustn't be simple or untroubled to be deep."
—Sarah Rose Nordgren