Counterpane (And Other Poems) is a uniquely passionate anthology; written between Mr. Nobles' last commercial release, Nobody (2008), and The Science of Expression (2014), it is a] widely varied and remarkably well-realized collection, full of touching and intimate odes and ballads, lofty, searching sonnets and elegies, and shameless, almost embarrassingly personal narratives. An interesting entry to the already varied bibliography of the young American author, Counterpane is, if nothing else, worth a look from fellow poets, and a unique release from an up-and-coming talent.

Set in plantation-era, pre-Emancipation South, Neddy is the youngest son in a family of slaves when his father dies. Blaming the Master and his family, Neddy kills the Master, the Master's wife, fakes his sucide, and flees. He plans to head north to live life as a free man. Unable to come to terms with his crime, Neddy invents a new identity for every person he meets, before meeting a young girl who tries to help him get through his crisis of conscience. Turning to a tincture of morphine, and haunted, his flight from himself is an odyssey that goes from Heaven to Hell and settles somewhere...

When astronomers find a planet in the Gliese system identical to Earth, the scientific community is unsure what to make of what the media has dubbed 'Tomos' - the Twin. A probe is sent after the discovery that there are manmade objects on the surface - the Eiffel Tower, the Great Wall of China. Could there be people, as well? This story looks at what it is about uniqueness that matters to people, and how people might react if that sense of uniqueness was taken away. It always looks at how an alien encounter might transpire, if we were incapable of understanding one another.