The Phoenix and the Dragon: Poems of the Alchemical Transformation is the latest collection from award-winning poet, humorist, activist, and educator Adam Byrn Tritt, and it may be his most personal and compelling work yet.

While Tritt’s poetry and essays have been published in numerous magazines and anthologies, The Phoenix and the Dragon is his first collection with a cohesive theme: transformation. “Alchemy,” says Tritt, “is the art of transformation. It’s about taking something of little intrinsic worth and changing it into something of tremendous value–changing lead into gold, for example. When you write poetry, you take experiences common to all people–small, everyday occurrances–and you distill them into their essence.”

Tritt, who won both the 2006 EPPIE Award for Poetry in an Anthology and the Book Club of South Florida Poetry Prize and is listed in Who’s Who in U.S. Writers, Editors, and Poets, has also been a social worker and a middle school teacher.

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Some Reviews

Adam’s poems are wonderful, magical and mystical…signposts for everyone on the journey to full consciousness. And that is all of us, for all who love connecting with spiritual truths which electrify one’s being. It is such a joy to remember we can transform our base metal into the gold of full consciousness, full awareness, the joy of Being. And that is what Adam’s poems do for us. If we are open and ready. Here is a chance to be part of the New Earth, the new consciousness of Being, of joyous living.

With the magic of transformation Adam lovingly guides us from Birth through Growth, Dissolution, Death and then Rebirth. Our lives make sense with these clear and honest poems, what a joy to be the light. From his early erector set that he needed to build angels through creating sacred places in his life with his children, he touches us deeply with these images. With his son Alek he shares henna tatoos of the Phoenix Alek wanted…and the Dragon Adam endured as the “cheap myth” he couldn’t wait “to fade, to crawl off, leave,” but which kept “murmuring, unremitting, the price of myths.”

And then through loss and death of loved ones to Rebirth, with these alchemical transformations we find what is sought, the Spiritual journey we all travel. How can we not dance with joy reading these poems of Adam Byrn Tritt! How can we not give thanks for these gifts of life, of Being.

—Richard Fisher

Genius Appears in the Strangest of Places

I never expected to find great poetry under such an unlikely title. Had not a friend handed me his Kindle, I would never have picked up The Phoenix and the Dragon. Tritt is clearly a fine poet; his work is penetrating, entertaining and beautifully crafted. Congratulations to an outstanding poet!

—Jack H. Harris

I was really impressed with this volume. You cannot read these poems and come away the same person that you were before you encountered them. They truly are transformational. Some are very brief, others are much longer, but all have a depth and clarity that makes them worth savoring.

—Jeannette Westlake