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In perhaps the largest, most eclectic volume of previously unpublished poetry in the history of Pacific Northwest literature, Matt Love presents 148 poems written over a 30-year span.

As he writes in the introduction to A Substantial but Incomplete Autobiography in Poems, “I have organized this collection into six categories: Ocean, Love, My Life, Oregon Tavern Age, Homelessness, Probation. These poems serve as a substantial but incomplete autobiography.”

“Confessionals, odes, scatological doggerel, polemics, tankas, haiku, prose, psalms, requiems, observations, love letters, lamentations, lyrics, stream of consciousness, meditations, lists, riffs, a eulogy, a sermon, a commencement speech, found poetry, tributes, elegies. I threw it all into an ancient cement mixer and hand cranked that concrete beast while watching blue herons undulate overhead and drinking red wine as the husky snoozed in his dirt fort. The result: A Substantial but Incomplete Autobiography in Poems, something merging where Charles Bukowski, Richard Hugo, Mary Oliver and Liz Phair blend together.”

None of Love's poems were ever submitted to poetry journals, contests or magazines, making this collection a true renegade project of passion and readable to any denizen of a coastal dive bar.

A Short History of an Oregon Prom Night

Oregon Tavern Age: Game Show

Rainbow Wraps (Part 5)

Rainbow Wraps (Part 4)

Rainbow Wraps (Part 3)

Rainbow Wraps (Part 2)

Rainbow Wraps (Part 1)

Harvey the Hardware Salesman

Some More Summer Musings

Sometimes a Great Notion Writing Workshop in Astoria Oct. 8

Meanderings on the Homeless Crisis (Part 3)

Meanderings on the Homeless Crisis (Part 2)

Meanderings on the Homeless Crisis (Part 1)

Oregon Tavern Age: Summer Musings

July 2022 Scenes

How to Become A Writer Who Writes About the Homeless Crisis

Thoughts on My Volunteer Service

On Considering the Homeless Crisis as a Disaster Event

The Bolshevik Beavers of Bybee Boulevard

Watching Wimbledon

Satan’s Halftime (A Story Idea)

OLD-GROWTH MURDER

Frank Beavers Endorsement from Tom McCall

Frank Beavers’ Haiku Campaign for Governor

A Brief Meditation on the End of Roe

Frank Beavers’ Campaign Ads Launched Against No Particular Candidate, Just All of Us

Frank Beavers’ Personal and Political Statement

Frank Beavers for Governor!

Fishing Scenes

Perry Mason Book Idea

Reading Studs Terkel for Answers

An Afternoon Conversation

The Steve Prefontaine Heart Break

Of Thinking of Rain

Recycling My Yearbooks

One Oregon Day

Birthday Present

Coffee Shop Eavesdropping

Ruminations on the Recent Primary Election

Notes for a Short Story