Loosely autobiographical, Catherine's Pool by poet and short fiction writer Mark N. Brown offers a dive into the deep end as well as a few thoughtful and thought provoking laps in calm water. This, the author's debut collection, includes over a hundred poems and vignettes that recall his youth in the Midwest as well as more sublime general topics such as justice, family, and freewill. While some of the narrative poems lead into short stories, a number of the confessional poems stand alone. With titles such as &'The Blind Man," "Smiling Jack and the Crystal Lady," "Chronicles of the Fox-killer and Sheepherder," and "Aunt Minnie," readers are given a taste of what life is like if it is lived purely and with a honed sense of eternal wonder. For Brown, readers will come to recognize that the water is fine-go ahead, jump in.