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In perhaps the largest, most eclectic volume of previously unpublished poetry in the history of Pacific Northwest literature, Matt Love presents 148 poems written over a 30-year span.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

When The Story Keeps Coming To You

Father’s Day

Leaving Early and Rachel Kushner on Writing

Lynyrd Skynyrd Busker

Bob and Dave and Rock and Roll

Tomato Plant Biker

American Contrast

Oregon Tavern Age: Shattered

One Hundred Stingers

Street Roots

Writings as Fish Hooks

A Letter About Death From My Uncle

Parking Lot Exorcism

Junk Metal Trio

Guided Missile Cruiser Sermon

Maybe I Should Have Done Something Else With My Professional Life

Marilyn Monroe RV

Ruminations on The Rockford Files

Baseball Fans

Mark Twain Dog Book News

Corona Virus Thoughts #24

Fort Tarot Reading

Oregon Tavern Age: Camping Plans

Feeding Ducks

Serving God as a Freelancer and Thoughts on Journalism

Bicycling Through Homelessness (Part 3)

Bicycling Through Homelessness (Part 2)

Bicycling Through Homelessness (Part 1)

Citizenship in the Dystopia

Writing as Citizenship: A New Voice (Part 2)

Writing as Citizenship: A New Voice (Part 1)

In Praise of Street Libraries

Oregon Tavern Age: A Man in Crisis

Oregon Tavern Age: Shit Detector

Emma on the Best Length of Love Letters

A Homeless Man Reading Jean Auel

Oregon Tavern Age: Convoy

The Old General and Iceberg Lettuce

American Contradictions (A Partial List)

Words with No Meaning