Indigena California, by Shawn McCann

Poetry, chapbook, 24 pages, from Bottlecap Features. Indigena California is Shawn McCann’s debut chapbook. It is a short collection of poems that journey into the minds of California’s plant life, and a few creatures that live among them, to peel back the veil and give them the words to express their inner most spirits. Each poem/narrative letter gives you their emotional depth, their individual perspective on creation itself, and their assessment of you. They show how some are just enjoying life, some are bitter about the ups and downs of sunshine, and some are our oldest defenders who would gladly give up their lives, but mostly, they are alone. Can you imagine, for a second, being chained to the ground, unable to move, completely reliant on the earth around you, and utterly ignored? What if our greatest allies are forlorn? What if they are screaming to be noticed by their one true love, us? Through the lens of despondency mixed with a thimble of faith, Shawn McCann introduces us to the rolling hills of Northern and Central California, the coastal cliffs of the Bay Area, the mountain peaks of the Sierras, the deselect Mojave, and the local Southern gardens. Come see what our beautiful companions in this lonely world have to say. Shawn McCann is a writer, husband, stay-at-home dad, and a disabled combat veteran who served four tours in Iraq with the U.S. Army. His stories and poems attempt to show a little light and humor in all the dark he has seen. You can find his work in the Nude Bruce Review, The Raven Review, The Turning Leaf Journal, The Wrath-Bearing Tree, and Abandon Journal with more on the way.