INTOXICATING SONNETS (paperback)

“‘Intoxicating Sonnets’ is like your stomach after clearing out the liquor cabinet—a grinding knot deep inside of you. Runge’s poems have an internal rhythm reminiscent of traditional sonnets while shredding the form apart; from blackout & prose poetry to floating free verse, these sonnets challenge traditional forms and themes in a fresh way. Full of yearning, regrets, and hatred towards capitalism, ‘Intoxicating Sonnets’ is part ode and part ouch to young American drinking culture.

— Laurel Reynolds, author of “Swallowing the Ash” & poetry editor of JAKE: The Anti-Literary Magazine

“These poems are lithe little daggers. These poems are feeling of taking the pill, then the heady rush when you take another forgetting the first. These poems are the detergent grease on tiled bathroom floors and the scratched-off stickers across their vanity mirrors. These poems are the knowledge that the disco ball above you could kill you if it dropped from the city rooftop onto your head. These poems are the knowledge that the disco ball is tiled with instruments to open your own veins. These poems are the thoughts of Sam Runge, a confessional and evocative poet. Read this collection in moderation. And for the love of god, don’t think and drive.”

— Tara Giancaspro, writer of xoxo Gossip Giancaspro & wailer of Sweaty Lamarr