Loved Ones

$9.95

Available February 17 in print and ebook.

“In these poems, devotion and irreverence are not contraries but different sides of the same coin.” — Lance Larsen
“Kevin Klein reminds us that, in an ongoing restoration, imagination is just as necessary as faith.” — Carol Lynn Pearson
“Reading this collection is like being in your favorite ward’s testimony meeting on a good day.” — Darlene Young

Book Description:

Loved Ones is a luminous collection of forty poems that trace the arc of human devotion through the Christian virtues of faith, hope, charity, and love. With a voice both reverent and playful, Kevin Klein explores the everyday sacred—chapel cleaning and youth soccer, midwinter pruning and middle-school band concerts, pioneer grit and parental tenderness. Each poem invites readers to notice grace in unexpected places, discovering how holiness often hides in humor, hardship, and the humble rituals that bind us to one another.

Rooted in scripture yet grounded in modern life, Klein’s work is rich with vivid imagery, spiritual introspection, and disarming warmth. Whether he is contemplating the nature of prayer, celebrating family, or mourning with those that mourn, his poems open the heart to deeper compassion and connection. Loved Ones is a gentle but profound reminder that the divine is found not only in miracles, but also in the people who teach us to believe, endure, give, and love.

Praise for Loved Ones:

“In Loved Ones, Kevin Klein catalogues how inescapably lowly we are: ‘Dust of the earth, / worms’ meat and dung, / far-flung particles of stars.’ But more importantly, how God blesses our broken tries. And yes, ordinances ground us, but so do our private sacraments: mopping a church bathroom, pruning a cherry tree, donning a headlamp to trim a sleeping daughter’s fingernails. In these poems, devotion and irreverence are not contraries but different sides of the same coin. What are we in search of? Among other things, ‘clackety rapture’ and just a little more light.” — Lance Larsen, former Utah Poet Laureate and author of Making a Kingdom of It

“Kevin Klein reminds us that, in an ongoing restoration, imagination is just as necessary as faith. Is part of faith—the call to discover or build divinity within even our most familiar relationships, stories, and tasks. How do we redeem our dead, mourn with others, renew the sacrament, and revise our hopes for heaven in a fallen world? This learning journey includes paths that lead us through darkness, but the poems in Loved Ones are little lights along the way.” — Carol Lynn Pearson, recipient of the Association for Mormon Letters Lifetime Achievement Award and author of Finding Mother God

“Reading this collection is like being in your favorite ward’s testimony meeting on a good day when you forget the hardness of the pews and the irritating flickering of that one light fixture but begin to recognize in every voice both someone you love and a part of yourself—the clumsiness and scrabblings and holiness of real life working towards life in Christ. Here is the grit and the sparkle; here is grace.” — Darlene Young, recipient of the Smith-Pettit Foundation Award for Outstanding Contribution to Mormon Letters and author of Count Me In

About the Author:

Kevin Klein is an elementary teacher and writer living in Orem, Utah. He earned an MA in English with a creative thesis of poetry from Brigham Young University, and his LDS-themed poetry has appeared in BYU Studies, Dialogue, Irreantum, and Wayfare. He has also authored two picture books, Oh How Lovely Was the Morning, and a symphonic, poetic farmyard story titled Showdown Symphony. His family is, among other things, one of his favorite sources of inspiration and feedback.