“The Lotus Eater: a poem and series of paintings by Thomas Flynn II” is a 9 x 6 inch, 52 page, full color hardcover book self-published by the artist with a foreward by Ashley C. Jones.

“I wrote this poem and completed this work in the summer of 2021. While the world was grasping at a new normal in the wake of economic and social unrest that began a year and a half prior.

To close one’s eyes and drift into a dream is perhaps one of the oldest evolutionary responses to waking life on this planet. It is in this dream-scape, that relationships to people, places, and things can become shuffled and new possibilities emerge that are able to be applied to waking life.

This body of work is an ode to new possibilities, to new ways of looking at the world while remembering and honoring where we have been. It is my hope that those who read this poem and view this work, will allow their mind to wander and form new connections, or revitalize connections that have been severed.

To me, the connection between the planet, its inhabitants, and the stars is an ancient river worth cherishing and diving into.”

- Thomas Flynn II on the series and poem.