The Muse of Love and Pain

Blurring the lines of poetry and fiction, this blend of gothic verse and fable is an ode to anyone who has traveled through the darkest roads and deepest waters to find love. "Visually intoxicating, the imagery is vivid and tastefully off-kilter." "The poet writes about passion so vividly that you feel his pain with every word. I highly recommend this collection!" "Touching...I love how each poem reveals different emotions and journeys that I found myself forgetting where I was at that moment." "The characters are dark, yet devoted; destructive, yet alive and passionate." "In 'The Muse of Love and Pain', we are swept away into a dark, intimate journey of the search for the meaning and redemption in the very thing that haunts, torments and, for those willing to surrender entirely to it, consumes us all." A.X. Salvo's debut collection of dark poetry and prose introduces readers to a hauntingly beautiful blend of the most delicious elements of fantasy, horror, and romance. We follow a familiar thread of near unrequited love. But this particular love is about an extraordinary being. In "The Intangible" she is a mourning mother, in "Harlequin" a lost lover, she is then reborn as a goddess with astounding power in the epic poem "The Muse of Love and Pain". Salvo's influences range from the classical poets Milton, Poe, Keats, and Dickinson to contemporary writers Plath, Bukowski, Gaiman, and Anne Rice. He finds inspiration in surrealism and the works of artists such as Dali and Man Ray as well as graphic novelists James O' Barr (creator of "The Crow") and David Mack (creator of the "Kabuki" series).