concordia discors

a collection of 37 poems

concordia discors—Latin for “harmony in discord”—is a contemporary poetry collection that explores the beauty of contradiction. Across 37 poems, Courtney Dunbar weaves together love and loss, chaos and order, nature and mankind, inviting readers to linger in the spaces where opposing truths coexist.

These poems move fluidly between lighthearted whimsy and deep introspection, pairing playful imagery with searching questions about time, instinct, memory, and meaning. From tender reflections on grief and connection to surreal moments of wonder, concordia discors offers a voice that is both curious and honest—unafraid of complexity and rooted in feeling.

This collection does not seek to resolve life’s tensions, but to honor them. It is a book for readers who find truth in paradox, beauty in uncertainty, and resonance in the in-between.

Perfect for lovers of contemporary, introspective poetry, concordia discors is a debut collection that invites you to feel deeply, question freely, and find harmony in our collective humanity.

The Pheonix

There are days when I don’t fear a thing;

Death could surprise me and I’d stare back with a grin.

But there are times that plague me still:

That I shall perish before I’ve had my fill.

I war against two halves of a whole,

Wishing to move forward without the pull.

I want to know both without knowing either;

To live and to die like the Phoenix in his fire.

PERSPECTACLES

My body manifests my

planetary mindset; I

find my way around by

placing feet on the ground. See

my frail eyes are missing

what’s not in this scene, so my

brain starts to imagine

how this world is what’s in a

grander, unheard of, schematic

(planned by the Man in the Attic).

It’s a lesson we’ve only begun:

(life on earth is only part one)

so I squint to see what’s beyond

where my voice can carry a song;

(begging for God’s permission

to rectify blurred vision)

see, Franklin did it with glasses, a

solution for the masses,

but no tint has yet to reveal what

I feel blooming beneath Earth’s veil.

Poetry published in Blackberry Winter (Volume 13, Spring 2018)

A Rochester University Publication

INFINITIES IN FAMILIARITIES

I've lost the wherewithal within.

Like a moth tangled

In the cloth of a lampshade,

I've gone tangoing with the dim.

My soul the cosmos stole and slew;

Now a flood of kerosene

Carries me amidst the gates,

For I've gone adrift in lieu of you.

Yet, down this nightlight lit labyrinth

I slowly stumbled upon

The languor in the lilt of your life;

It seems as if you'd already lived it.

But there was a surprising newness;

Infinities in familiarities.

I see you in peculiarities.

REFLECTION

O' wonderful You;

So tantallizing

And Unobtainable

With your ephemeral sunshine balloons.

O' lavender moon

Covered in honey;

The frothy clouds

Leaping and lapping against your silver beams.

O' how gravity holds!

Tension stabilizes

And vibrations mend,

Still this cranium planetarium won't let me rest.

O' the ocean

Reflecting moonglade

So that in the evening

I see my stars in You.

THE YELLOW FLASH IN THE SAND

Flicker flicker, little flame;

I'll tend to you the best I can.

Velvety darkness may interlude,

But flicker flicker, torched true.

Flicker flicker, little flame;

Interrupted tunes begin again.

When creeping covers come to call,

We tend totality to flicker tall.

Flicker flicker, little flame;

Once a spark, but now reclaimed.

Freed from the fever of the end,

A ferocious flame has come to mend.