Around That Old Table

Mark Pottorff writes about what is important to him. His poetry tells you who he is. It is well crafted, emotional and mature but not angry. It feels like looking in the mirror. An important work that will touch your soul. It will cause you to examine your emotions and life in general.
—John Clayton

Mark’s spirit conveys the loving sort of haunting that I grew up hearing about in tales of guardian angels. His use of imagery, line breaks, and pacing bakes emphasis into the sacred spaces between words. The elegance of Mark’s elegies reminds readers to look to their loved ones, memorize their faces while you can, and keep them alive in the blanket of each breath. For those of us who have never lived in the layered embrace of genuine generations, he introduces a rich vein of humanity, this haunting love a Dadly reminder of who we are, and could be, together.
—Jon Freeland

With words of affection, “I realized just how much / I run through your veins” and words of loss, “But today my heart is hurting, / Because part of it is missing” Mark Pottorff draws you into this collection and Around That Old Table, where conversations with loved ones, here and gone, become conversations with the reader as he shares his love and respect for family and tradition.
—Ken Gierke, author of Random Riffs and Heron Spirit