5000HURTS
The Debut Chapbook, published by Burning Eye Books in 2019, 5000 HURTS is an exploration of the myriad ways we experience and inflict hidden trauma. Using the 5Khz median frequency of Tinnitus as a jumping off point Adrian plays with familiar poetic forms and generates new ones to capture characters, moments and narratives wherein that hidden hurt surfaces. 5000 HURTS is a book that knows how terrible we can be to ourselves, and to each other. and hopes by recognizing the harm we cause we can begin to do better.
Adrian. B. Earle names trauma in all its places; individuals, lovers, society, history, the continuous assault on black bodies. His opening poem Tinnitus gives us an understanding of the depths of trauma, how at times it has no beginning and ending, and continues to echo far after the event. Adrian Earle plays with form and white spaces like an Obeah man creating rituals and magic for couples, fatherhood and suicides. The whole collection is Kintsugi “golden joinery” for the traumas we have or may suffer in the future. 5000 HURTS demands your attention at its highest frequency and resonates through the body long after you have finished reading.’ - blurb by Roy McFarlane
‘Adrian is a writer that jars normal conventions of poetry. Each poem shapes a new journey, at times feeling like a time warp - juxtaposing language within modern settings. 5000 HURTS breathes as much healing as it does rage, and reflection.’ - YOMI SODE
