How would you answer the question, “Who are you?”

It can be harder than you think, especially when it comes to getting past the superficial answers.

Now, look in the mirror and try to imagine yourself carved in stone. Some features will be exaggerated, of course, but at some point, an angel or other truth may also be released.

This is prompted by the release of my collection, Hamlet: A Village of Gargoyles, which can be found in the digital platform of your choice at Smashwords, the Apple Store, Barnes & Noble’s Nook, Scribd, Sony’s Kobo, and other fine ebook retailers. You can also ask your public library to obtain it.

In the meantime, a wonderful gallery is available for your viewing at the fine New England-based blog Gargoyles and Grotesques.

There you’ll see that these sculpted images aren’t confined to cathedrals or Gothic castles. In fact, they’re all around us.

They could even inspire another set of poems.

Today’s the release date for Hamlet: A Village of Gargoyles, and I’d love for you to check it out.

The 200-plus off-beat poems of my collection were composed well before I relocated to a real-life village and, by then, many of the pieces had appeared in literary journals around the globe. What I’ve seen since comes as confirmation.

And now they’re together in one volume, as originally intended.

The pages present candid, surreal, often humorous confessions by various community members who span the generations and occupations of an imaginary locale. They’re the kind you may chance upon in a comic strip, support group, or while walking the dog in your own neighborhood.

Opening the book can be like opening their door, for that matter.

You can find it in the digital platform of your choice at Smashwords, the Apple Store, Barnes & Noble’s Nook, Scribd, Sony’s Kobo, and other fine ebook retailers. You can also ask your public library to obtain it.