Photosynthesis and Respiration

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The thread running through these poems is relationship, but many take a scientific perspective. One could call them love poems about science or science poems about love. Either way, these poems intertwine with an eloquent ease and dance with a persuasive rhythm.

AUDIO POEM
Why the Dog Keeps Chewing My Socks

PRAISE FOR PHOTOSYNTHESIS & RESPIRATION

I've heard of boxing being referred to as "the sweet science", but after reading Christopher Clauss' Photosynthesis and Respiration, I am convinced that the deftly crafted odes to love, life, and lichens are deserving of that moniker as well. These are poems that make you believe in things. - Rob Sturma, editor-in-chief, FreezeRay Poetry

Christopher Clauss writes of the natural world and all of its small and glorious movements with the generosity it deserves. These poems are vibrant, rich with image, color, and heart. I felt like someone wandering through the interior of a place I knew well, and had loved for a long time.- Hanif Abdurraqib, author of The Crown Ain't Worth Much”

Christopher Clauss wrote a book of nerd love poems and you really need to read it. Photosynthesis and Respiration holds a strong pattern of drawing you in like a Wikipedia deep dive, and then breaks your heart by the end like a Perry Bible Fellowship comic. There are great moments of experimentation, such as with the well-executed "Igneous, Metamorphic, Sedimentary Love" with its lovely use of font, alignment, and spacing on the page. Clauss' family and his love are front and center and showcased in ways that will catch you off guard with his brilliant, scientific mind, such as "GIF loves JPG" did for me with its use of transparency as a metaphor. This book is the perfect representation of the smart and loving person who wrote it, and Dr. Sylva Earle (yes... THE Dr. Sylva Earle) should be proud to have been mentioned in it, -Jesse Parent, award winning Slam Poet

"There’s a habit most teachers who write poetry have, where they try to educate their audience through trivia and metaphors for love. It’s not that Christopher Clauss’ poetry doesn’t do that, it’s just that when he does it, it never feels condescending or forced. It seems less about learning about yourself, and also science, and more about becoming self-aware and discovering things about science while listening to a friend tell you about his life. And you feel like Clauss is your friend the first time you encounter his work. He writes with effortless honesty, never hinting at where he expects you should laugh, cringe, or sigh. It’s one of the many reasons I always look forward to reading his work or seeing him perform. I even enjoy his poems about his children, which never threaten to be as treacly as our peers’. If you enjoy poetry the same way I do, you’ll come out feeling smarter, calmer, and with a desire to buy more tools, preferably ones that use the metric system." - Adam Stone, freelance journalist

In this collection, Christopher Clauss gives us thoughtfully crafted poems about married life, with the perspective of a scientist’s methodical mind. From the exasperation of family holiday travel to the tender gift of secretly knitted socks, he captures the varied essence of partnership in ways that are somehow both gentle and pointed. This book is wonderful. You will enjoy it.- Catherine Weiss, author of “Wolf Girls vs. Horse Girls”