Conversations with Good Men beautifully ponders themes of love and loneliness, heartbreak and hope. Fans of poets from Elizabeth Barrett Browning, to E.E. Cummings, to Rupi Kaur and Charly Cox will appreciate Bethel Swift’s brevity, wit, transparency, and heart in this collection.
Through real and imagined (spoken and internal) dialogue between feminine and masculine characters, the poet invites readers to join her on a three-act journey exploring the concept of “goodness” as well as the spiritual and practical complexity of awakening as a feminist while being in relationship with one’s faith, family, friends, lovers, and self. Swift’s chapbook compassionately tackles the struggle to better understand upbringing and belief, self-esteem and desire, betrayal and healing while learning to love, lose, and become open to loving again.