WJM Press (Trade Paperback), ISBN 1-886467-95-0
A slender volume of metric, accessible, insightful verse by a poet compared to Robert Service -- but not by me. Service wrote his poetry for another age, one that appreciated doggerel. Harvey Stanbrough qualifies a major poet -- either now or in the making -- and his work compares favorably with that of William Stafford. Like Stafford, Stanbrough writes of the commonplace, showing the magical or the incomprehensible found in the heart of a single moment. And more importantly, he gives the reader an understanding of his poetic vision and does it painlessly.

"Harvey Stanbrough (photo courtesy Harvey Stanbrough)

The book is divided into two sections: "The Shapes of Things" and "A Nutshell History of Man." Since doing a poem by poem review ranks high on the list of impossible things to do, I chose one poem from each section. I chose them for no apparent reason other than a phrase or a bit of wisdom in each caught my imagination and made me want to explore them further. (No, I'm not going to do a Poetry 101 explication.)

The first poem, "Concerning a Quiet Mystery of Life," reminded me so much of my own sons as they grew up. It concerns a boy who picks up a mouse killed by the family cat, disposes of it, washes his hands, then pets the cat and makes toast without rewashing his hands. In part, the section I loved goes:

He hangs the towel to dry, then takes quick measure
of himself in a handy mirror;
almost a man, this hesitant undertaker
of mice and other cat-beheaded things
is prideful he remembered sanitation.

The second poem, "To 60 Minutes, Concerning the May 24, 1998 Show," conveyed a more serious and universal truth. You need to read it in its entirety to get the full meaning, but it starts:

He's right, you know, the novelist who failed
to smile and nod mechanically to please
your insolent cameras and your faux-naïf:
his art is not a battleground for health,
nor should he be politically correct
if he would write the ills of humankind.

I am not the only reader who appreciates Stanbrough's works. He boasts an awesome and well-deserved list of achievements and honors. Previous collections of his work include On Love and War and Other Fallacies, nominated for a 1999 Pulitzer Prize in Letters; Residua, the title poem of which was named Best Poem on the Internet in 2000, and which will soon go into its second edition as an electronic book; and Lessons for a Barren Population, the first full-length, original poetry collection published as an electronic book. Lessons for a Barren Population also received a nomination for a 2000 Frankfurt E-book Award.

Patricia Lucas White

Patricia Lucas White's latest historical novel, To Last a Lifetime, was an Eppie finalist for 2003. To Last a Lifetime and two of her fantasy romances, the Sapphire Award-winning A Wizard Scorned and The Godmother Sanction, can be ordered through Hard Shell Word Factory. Her recent contemporary, PS, I've Taken a Lover, is available from Lionhearted Books.

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