Provisional Conclusions

About the Book

A diagnosis of ADHD at age fifty-five can make you stop and think. So can losing your daughter to a drunk driver two days after her eighth birthday—or looking up at the majesty of the Big Buddha in Phuket after getting lost in the mountains on the way there. Spanning a period from high school in the seventies until a few hours before it went to the editor, the poems in Provisional Conclusions explore these topics and more: being a parent, being a man, living with ADHD, the legacy of Howard Thurman, the myth of objectivity, the delight and terror of raising a family, the dreams of Korczak Ziolkowski, and even a quick peek into hell. Poet Mike Fedel also considers race, sex, love lost and found, philosophy, consciousness, and God—what is she like, anyway? Sections include “Thinking Out Loud,” “The ADHD Chapter,” “Loss,” and “Love and Nervous Energy.” Offering accessible observations on a wide range of topics, the verses in this collection consider the raw emotions associated with love, grief, and ADHD. “...powerful and poignant poems which capture a father’s experience of losing his 8 year-old daughter...” —Irving Leon, Ph.D. “...the poetry of a brilliant, often misunderstood ADHD mind, trapped in a linear world...” —Suzanne Ostrowski-Dansel, M.Ed., ACC “...fresh, moving poems by Mike Fedel, an important new voice in music and now in poetry...” —Anna Boothe, Author of “I Already Love You,” “Beyond Words,” and “Buddha.”

About the Author

Mike Fedel is a performer, musician, and educator who lives in Ann Arbor, Michigan. His ADHD-fueled curiosity has led him into software development, seed-bead art, master’s degrees in theology and performance, jazz and folk music, and teaching improvisation. With his wife, Jean, he is raising their daughter, Lisa.