Introducing Matthew Daddona's Debut Poetry Collection: House of Sound

Trail to Table Press, an imprint of Wandering Aengus Press, is delighted and honored to share with you Matthew Daddona's debut poetry book, House of Sound. Poet Chelsea Dingman says of the collection, “‘It takes a lot to say I love you, I mean it / and mean it,’ says the speaker in Matthew Daddona’s rich and impactful debut, House of Sound. These poems articulate not just love as an act, but also absence, longing, and philosophies, all as a measure of life and its relevance. To stay or to go? This is the central question that haunts the speaker. And when one goes, is one ever really gone? These poems ring with questions: ‘I want their wings. I want their answer.’ In sound, memory, and the lack thereof. In life, love—and the lack thereof. This collection is an exciting example of language as meditation, mediation, and conciliation, as well as action. To write, to love, to understand, to contemplate—these are all verbs that require action and attention. Attend to the quiet yearning in these poems. ‘Because a shadow / wants to leave you / but doesn’t know how,’ attend to the way these beautiful poems move through the body as heartsong, as a form of human touch.”

Caroline Hagood writes, "House of Sound takes the reader to a contemplative space that only the best poetry can. Daddona’s dexterous command of language unfurls into stanzas of startling insight. His writing is crystalline, alternating between existential long shots and close-ups of moments so intimate and well-drawn they will break your heart."

Read Caroline Hagood's interview with Matthew Daddona in The Kenyon Review.