Common Places
(March 2023)
These poems respond to the landscape of the San Joaquin Valley and nearby deserts. Such places are usually ignored if not despised, but a closer look reveals unexpected and unorthodox beauty—along with “something numinous”. (Kelsay Books) Available from publisher or Amazon.
BONUS DEAL: In order to offset the impact of inflation on book prices, I'm offering to puchasers of this title, a free copy of Journal of the Drought Year (as a reminder--lest we forget).
(March 2023)
These poems respond to the landscape of the San Joaquin Valley and nearby deserts. Such places are usually ignored if not despised, but a closer look reveals unexpected and unorthodox beauty—along with “something numinous”. (Kelsay Books) Available from publisher or Amazon.
BONUS DEAL: In order to offset the impact of inflation on book prices, I'm offering to puchasers of this title, a free copy of Journal of the Drought Year (as a reminder--lest we forget).
The Art of Stone Axes
"...quatrain sequences...demonstrating with grace and style how this form is perfectly suited to contemporary themes. In four lines, Thompson contains worlds." broadstonebooks.com
2021 WINNER of THE ERIC HOFFER AWARD
A San Joaquin Almanac
Nothing is more fundamental than a weather report, updated hourly and obsessed over continually on cable channels. A San Joaquin Almanac comprises a poem for each month that reflects how the climate of the region affects the community, the individual psyche, and even time--personal memory and local history.
Main Street Rag http://mainstreetragbookstore.com/
A San Joaquin Almanac
Nothing is more fundamental than a weather report, updated hourly and obsessed over continually on cable channels. A San Joaquin Almanac comprises a poem for each month that reflects how the climate of the region affects the community, the individual psyche, and even time--personal memory and local history.
Main Street Rag http://mainstreetragbookstore.com/
Behind the Blue Door:
A collection of biographical poems (flash bios?) about a variety of subjects--not only poets and writers but historical figures, celebrities, movie stars... and my grandmother.
Flutter Press: Available from Author
Suite Pneuma:
Wind, breath, spirit--poems about the landscape we live in and the landscape within us.
Order at the link below:
Clare Songbirds Publishing House:
www.claresongbirdspub.com/featured-authors/don-thompson/
Suite Pneuma:
Wind, breath, spirit--poems about the landscape we live in and the landscape within us.
Order at the link below:
Clare Songbirds Publishing House:
www.claresongbirdspub.com/featured-authors/don-thompson/
Outdoor Chamber Music:
A collection of plein air poems written on site not far from home: the Elk Hills, the California Aqueduct, canals, nut groves, horse ranches and dairies, fields and fallow land. These poems are specific, noticing flora and fauna that is often overlooked, but they also resonate with "something numinous."
Kelsay Books (Aldrich Press). Available from Amazon
A collection of plein air poems written on site not far from home: the Elk Hills, the California Aqueduct, canals, nut groves, horse ranches and dairies, fields and fallow land. These poems are specific, noticing flora and fauna that is often overlooked, but they also resonate with "something numinous."
Kelsay Books (Aldrich Press). Available from Amazon
((From Here On: Four Sunday Drives:
Revives an old tradition, documenting road trips to nearby farmland, the foothills, and the Sierras. The four, seasonal poems reflect on the passing of time and the deterioration and abuse of the land. Even in the outlying areas reached only on back roads, there is evidence of vandalism and violence. And yet the landscape somehow endures.
(Future Cycle Press) Available from Amazon
Revives an old tradition, documenting road trips to nearby farmland, the foothills, and the Sierras. The four, seasonal poems reflect on the passing of time and the deterioration and abuse of the land. Even in the outlying areas reached only on back roads, there is evidence of vandalism and violence. And yet the landscape somehow endures.
(Future Cycle Press) Available from Amazon
A Journal of the Drought Year:
Poems that respond to a weather report westerners can neither ignore nor do anything about. The second section turns to more spiritual concerns in "Praying with Kit Smart."
(Encircle Publications) Available from the Author
Poems that respond to a weather report westerners can neither ignore nor do anything about. The second section turns to more spiritual concerns in "Praying with Kit Smart."
(Encircle Publications) Available from the Author
Something About the Light:
The most recent vintage from the terroir of the San Joaquin Valley.
Flutter Press: Available from Author
The most recent vintage from the terroir of the San Joaquin Valley.
Flutter Press: Available from Author
Keeping the Secrets:
This is part three of a San Joaquin Trilogy beginning with Back Roads (Sunken Garden
Prize 2008) and Everything Barren Will Be Blessed. Here the human presence is less a
person than consciousness itself interacting with elements of the landscape, both animate
inanimate, that seem to be conscious too.
Flutter Press: Available from Author
This is part three of a San Joaquin Trilogy beginning with Back Roads (Sunken Garden
Prize 2008) and Everything Barren Will Be Blessed. Here the human presence is less a
person than consciousness itself interacting with elements of the landscape, both animate
inanimate, that seem to be conscious too.
Flutter Press: Available from Author
Nietzsche Wept:
A selection of prose poems "full of meditative surprises" says Paul J. Willis. "To read these poems, you just might have to lose your mind, but you will get back for it a soul."
Available from Finishing Line Press
A selection of prose poems "full of meditative surprises" says Paul J. Willis. "To read these poems, you just might have to lose your mind, but you will get back for it a soul."
Available from Finishing Line Press
Local Color:
A book-length narrative poem based on Kern County History. The night watchman in the museum reminisces and interacts with ghostly historical figures; his old friend, the editor, adds a section of notes to clarify and quibble with the night watchman's allusions to the past.
Available from Kelsay Books (Easier to purchase through Amazon or B&N.)
A book-length narrative poem based on Kern County History. The night watchman in the museum reminisces and interacts with ghostly historical figures; his old friend, the editor, adds a section of notes to clarify and quibble with the night watchman's allusions to the past.
Available from Kelsay Books (Easier to purchase through Amazon or B&N.)
Everything Barren Will Be Blessed:
Landscape poems in which the San Joaquin Valley comes alive--trees, rocks, and creatures interacting with human consciousness. The sequel to Back Roads (out of print), winner of the 2008 Sunken Garden Poetry Prize.
Available from Amazon or the publisher, Pinyon Publishing
Landscape poems in which the San Joaquin Valley comes alive--trees, rocks, and creatures interacting with human consciousness. The sequel to Back Roads (out of print), winner of the 2008 Sunken Garden Poetry Prize.
Available from Amazon or the publisher, Pinyon Publishing
Where We Live:
Valley poems written from the mid-seventies to well into the 2000s. This book summarizes my writing life.
Available from author or Parallel Press
Valley poems written from the mid-seventies to well into the 2000s. This book summarizes my writing life.
Available from author or Parallel Press
Keeping an Eye on the Stones:
Prose poems and/or flash fiction drawn from a Valley setting. Spiritual and maybe a bit spooky.
Available from author or Kattywompus Press
Prose poems and/or flash fiction drawn from a Valley setting. Spiritual and maybe a bit spooky.
Available from author or Kattywompus Press
The following titles are no longer available. One imprint has simply given it up after years of successful POD activities. The other ceased operations due to the death of the publisher. Small press publishers of poetry deserve our respect and praise: no one else gives us a chance to get our work before the public. The same goes for independent booksellers who struggle to survive against corporate and internet giants. Support them! However, I do have some copies of these titles, which you can purchase while they last from Paper Boat Press ([email protected]). In fact, any of the books and chapbooks listed on this page can be purchased there.
Been There, Done That and Turning Sixty: Collections of poems in a looser, more expansive style. Both of these have sold well for almost ten years.
Sittin' on Grace Slick's Stoop: A sequence of poems remembering the sixties followed by notes to correct the errors of memory we all make.
St. Egret: This is my first selection of previously published poems which begins a planned annual series sent as a Christmas card. A dozen poems for 2013 illustrated by David Gordon.
Coyote Country: The 2014 Christmas Chapbook. A dozen poems selected from various books and illustrated by my daughter Emily's photographs.
Rainbird: The 2015 offering in the Christmas Chapbook Series. A dozen poems about water selected from various books.
Translations From Aeolian: The 2016 Christmas Chapbook, consisting of poems about the wind. The book features
full color reproductions of paintings by Frederick Smith.
Soledad: The 2017 Christmas Chapbook, fifth and final in the series, featuring poems about people.