In his debut collection of poetry, H. K. G. Lowery explores a journey incorporating all the natural anxieties and pains of living, leading to an understanding of real forgiveness and redemption.
From the first poem of the collection, An Ode to Father John Misty, he sets the scene touching on societal issues such as racism, homophobia, religion, addiction and consumerism. The darkness of such issues, as well as other emotional issues, are given light gradually when he journeys into the positive attributes of forgiveness, hope in the God, the wonderment of nature, self-acceptance and salvation. The collection begins to rotate towards the Sublime with A Requiem for St. Francis which holds a strong personal resonance from the time he visited Assisi in Italy.
Each poem commences with an epigraph which summarises each individual poem. The final poem sees all twelve epigraphs combine into a conclusion of the collection which results in a cathartic outpouring where the delight of existence is realised.
An Enquiry into the Delight of Existence and the Sublime is a personal journey, a rise from darkness to light, from despair to hope.