The poetry of Ozark Howler Verse attempt to sketch world in which a mysterious wild creature can still roam free, without a smartphone in its claws, untracked, unquantified, unfettered. Poems of the Dark Beast depict the Ozark Howler, a monster of traditional Southern lore in the Ozarks rural landscape of Missouri, Arkansas, Oklahoma and a wee bit of Texas.This collection of poems represents the old stories passed down in the Ozarks from mother to daughter, father to son for generations before electronic forms of storytelling began to push the old ways to the side. The verse also refers to more recent depictions of the Ozark Howler as well, as in the science fiction short stories by Timothy Godwin, published in the short-lived scifi magazine Cryptic Universe in the 1970s. The Snawfus, another beast of traditional Ozark folklore, also makes an appearance.One of the main archenemies of the Ozark Howler for the poet Rufus Grey, however, is digital technology, made dangerous to ambiguity and the true feeling of the wild by its relentless enchantment and ruthless quantification of human subjective experience. "I often wonder," Grey has commented, "if people today would even notice if the Ozark Howler were to walk through downtown Fayetteville in broad daylight. I don't think they'd spare even a moment to look up from checking their Facebook feeds on their iPhones."The poetry of Rufus Grey isn't just for fans of the Ozark Howler, or for residents of the Ozarks. This verse gives a warning to Americans enchanted with the digital witchcraft of Silicon Valley corporations and their apps of entrapment. In a time where everything given value seems to be virtual, the Ozark Howler keeps it very real, asking us to remember what it is to live as truly animal, biological beings before we're asked to upload our minds into data servers that would provide us a cold immortality of imprisonment.The enduring American interest in the Ozark Howler, as revealed in these poems, comes from its character as a classic mythological monster, a beast of metaphor more than meat, reflecting back to us our own shadowy desires, inviting us to imagine a future in which we are reunited with nature, instead of further estranging ourselves from it. This collection of Grey's highly original poetry is a must-read for anyone who wants to understand the dark, neglected back country of American culture.