Barefoot is Kevin Hart's eighth collection of poems; it is rich in elegies, meditations on lost love, and celebrations of new love. The title speaks of mourning, pilgrimage, and the direct sensuous contact of flesh with earth. Harold Bloom has long extolled Hart as a "visionary of desire," and in this collection we find that vision deepened and that desire extended. Never before has Hart stretched his range of inspiration quite so far; while continuing to draw from Christianity, he also responds to the rich heritage of American Blues, and reveals a wit as sharp as a razor's edge. The poetry is at once religious poetry and love poetry; indeed, the "religious poetry" is itself love poetry. Always, Hart speaks to us in words that seem inevitable in their simplicity. As he himself has written, "The best conductor of mystery is clarity. The true bearer of complexity is simplicity." Barefoot will delight poetry lovers everywhere.

Kevin Hart is the Edwin B. Kyle Professor of Christian Studies in the Department of Religious Studies at the University of Virginia. He is the author of many books, including Wild Track (University of Notre Dame Press, 2015).

1

Nights

Little Book of Mourning

Barefoot

Father

Grief

Old Crow

Eclipse

Again

Downstairs

2

Little Song Book of the Dark One

3

Northern Nights

February

The Problem of Evil

The Future

My Death

Heaven: A Memoir

Prayer

Morning Rain

4

Darkness

The Empty Chair

Slant

Apart

My Daughters

Death and Some Friends

5

Little Songbook

Partial Eclipse

Summer in Melbourne

Little Book of Early Love

Poor Little Soul

The Canon

Almost Classical

Merci

Happiness

Sugar