The Children Have Bloomed First and Other Notes from Fatherhood, by Thor D. Mikesell

Poetry, chapbook, 28 pages, from Bottlecap Features. Written by a new father, for fathers everywhere, The Children Have Bloomed First and Other Notes from Fatherhood, is a collection of poems and poetic meditations which reflect the complex experiences of new fathers, fatherhood, and love. This work spans the topics of mortality, playfulness, loss, love, and the sometimes ridiculousness of parenthood. In an effort to keep the themes and, well, poetry accessible and relatable to the every-day-dad, The Children Have Bloomed First… uses plain language and simple meter and verse. This work alternates between scenes of love and children at play to the existential vulnerability that comes as a result of deep introspection, fear of failure, comparing ourselves to our own fathers as we look for examples of “how to be a dad”, and the idea of one’s mortality. Thor D. Mikesell (b. 1985) is an avid consumer of the humanities. Thor has spent the last twenty years of his life performing and producing live theatre, opera, musical theatre, dance, and working to produce other cross genre live performances that rely heavily on interdisciplinary performance practices. He believes that art, in all of its forms, can and should amuse, humble, bring peace, and even challenge our beliefs and everyday lives. Thor finds inspiration for his poems from his own lived experiences as a new father, memories of his own childhood, and from the sounds of the world around him. Thor lives in Oregon with his wife, Holly, their two children, and their two dogs.