Human & C.

Rich Follett is a High School English, Theatre, and Mythology teacher who has been writing poems and songs for more than 35 years. His poems have been featured in numerous online and print journals, including BlazeVox, Four Branches Press, The Montucky Review, Paraphilia, Exercise Bowler, Leaf Garden Press and CounterExample Poetics, for which he is a featured artist. He lives with his wife Mary Ruth Alred Follett in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, where he also pursues his interests as a professional actor, singer/songwriter, playwright and director.

Reviews

"Rich Follet's poetry is the poetry I want to be able to write, brave beyond the meaning of the word, it's content is so real and sharp that the meaning alone often takes my breath way, but that is just the half of it. He speaks of love, loss, pain and humanity, with words so beautiful they ache in your heart. He is the poet I aspire to be. Please just read him."
Si Philbrook, poet

"human &c. by Rich Follett traces the harmonies of our human experience. Words squeeze, seep, obtrude and collide like the traumas and exudations they describe."
Geoffrey Gatza, author of House of Forgetting

"human &c. weighs in the hand while it gives the heart wings. Filled with feathers, dreams and hope yet grounded in New England granite, roots of oak and the miracle of Naked Ladies. Follett's poems stretch back into the mythic, uplift and propel us into now to give with an overview of the depth of &c. Not a mere throw away three characters in the title but a sumptuous examination of the etcetera of human experience. Through these poems we share a buffet with Beowulf, we see ourselves in the warrior heart, recall the longing for flight which resides in our bones, split the mundane with the spin of a paper clip and tell us that healing is possible.
These carefully considered words will glide you through the complexity of our humanity, our connection to earth and air, remind us that love is undeniable and hope buoys as we head into the future towards an understanding that love conquers all. Rich Follett's feather inspired griffonage will prompt you to celebrate our shared DNA and rouse you to live your life with all your humanity and &c."
Coral Carter, poet, publisher, photographer