To Richard Michelson, social issues and writing are inextricable.

Though many know his work through his children’s books, poetry is Mr. Michelson’s first love. To him, the two aren’t all that different — they are both about connecting with those on the other side of the pages.

Sleeping As Fast As I Can, Mr. Michelson’s fifth poetry collection, was published in April 2023 by Slant Books. He will give a poetry reading on July 20 at Featherstone Center for the Arts, alongside National Book Award winner Martín Espada. The two writers will continue the conversation at Featherstone on July 21.

Mr. Michelson acknowledged that Sleeping As Fast As I Can is darker and more political than his past collections. The times necessitate it, he said.

“The world entered a phase that I just could not imagine seeing again in my lifetime, frankly,” Mr. Michelson said.

Rising antisemitism, a fracturing country and a spike in gun violence — which his own father fell victim to many years ago — gave rise to many of the poems in the collection.

At the same time, his mother’s health declined. As her dementia set in, Mr. Michelson grappled with how to love someone he felt was completely different from the person he knew.

“That was kind of a dark time for me personally and a dark time for the country,” he said.

But Mr. Michelson also ventures into the realm of humor, which he believes can help people confront challenges.

“This book, for me, was a reckoning of how art can counteract what’s going on in the world,” he said.

Sleeping As Fast As I Can is filled with a variety of styles — sad poems, silly poems and everything in between. In Literature of the Body he laments about how many words exist and how little understanding seems to accompany them. It ends: “But here I am, quiet

as death, writing my life, and sleeping as fast as I can.”

Mr. Michelson said he hopes the book will give readers a chance to see important issues anew. He looks at writing as his contribution in the struggle for social justice.

It’s important to be part of the fight for what you believe in, no matter how, he said.

“Poetry is one way to do that,” he continued. “But it’s no different or, frankly, any better than other ways. It’s just the way that I’m comfortable with. Other people have their own ways to contribute.”

Writing poetry, whether humorous or serious, helps Mr. Michelson process life’s challenges, he said. In the collection, he talks to his country, God, those around him and himself.

“In a sense, I get to lay that on the page, so I’m not carrying it around with me constantly.”

And yet, Mr. Michelson says he sees the book as an exercise in optimism, just as he does any of his writing.

“I wouldn’t write poetry if I wasn’t deep down a hopeful person,” he said. “Because there’s no point in putting things down on paper if you don’t think you can change something or affect something.”