"THIS WORLD IS CRUEL TO THOSE WHO INSIST UPON STAYING OPEN TO IT. MATT MITCHELL, THE POEMS IN GROWN OCEAN SHOW US AGAIN AND AGAIN, IS ONE SUCH SOUL- EVERYWHERE IS AN OCCASION FOR GRATITUDE AND AWE, FROM BUFFALO NICKELS TO COHABITATION TO MEAT LOAF TO ASTRONOMY TO COKE ZERO TO, YES, LOVE. AND THAT IS HARD, RETAINING SUCH A PERMEABILITY TO TENDERNESS IN A CULTURE, A NATION, THAT CONSPIRES SO RELENTLESSLY AGAINST IT. IT'S GOOD AND NOTABLE WORK, THE LOVING THESE POEMS TAKE UP. AND THEY'RE VERY GOOD POEMS." -KAVEH AKBAR, AUTHOR OF PILGRIM BELL Matt Mitchell is an intersex writer living in Columbus, Ohio. He wrote The Neon Hollywood Cowboy (Big Lucks, 2021) and tweets @matt_mitchell48.