Homing Beacon

With shoes in hand,
in stocking feet so as to not disturb,
I climb the steps blind
without the benefits of a light’s eye.
With practiced ease,
the creak of a certain step is missed.
Steering by memory,
no additional assistance is required.
Even if half asleep,
I can find my way through the dark.
The assurance of
that worn path’s groove, a roadway.
A homing beacon,
your fragrant warmth again guiding
me safely to harbor.

Morning Tea

Every morning I boil water for tea,
then carry it out,
still steaming, to my favorite chair.
Yesterday’s frustrations,
today’s obligations waiting ahead,
are temporarily allayed
as I concentrate on the ceremony.
Cradling the cup,
my intent is to think of nothing else.

But soon after taking the first sip,
distractions intrude.
Once it has enlivened tastes buds,
my thoughts wander.
When finally resurfacing, I discover
an almost empty cup
and the taste of tea barely recalled.
Gulping the dregs,
what’s left is bitter and lukewarm.

Movie Night

Their flashlights silent
as dusk itself, the fireflies
guide us to our seats

Clouds part to reveal
tonight’s first act, gypsy moths
in the moon’s spotlight

No admission fee,
a wide screen spectacular,
sparkling overhead

Offstage, but savored
nonetheless, unscripted in
the dark, a rose blooms

Standing on its edge,
we’re reverent as wordless,
the Universe stars

An encore denied,
evening fog, a curtain drawn,
sends us off to bed

Who Has Seen The Wind / W. O. Mitchell

First published in 1947, Who Has Seen The Wind is set on the Saskatchewan prairies during the Great Depression.  Its four parts describe the life of a boy living in a small community during the ages of four, six, eight and eleven.  Most of the story is seen through his eyes, focusing on his family, friends, and his coming to terms with God’s existence, the meaning of life, and the acceptance of events beyond his control.  

Like life itself, the plot often seems to meander with no clear purpose, following the path of Brian O’Connal’s adventures, crises, moments of enlightenment, and sometimes heartbreak, as he tries to make sense of the world around him.  While Brian is the story’s centerpiece, the reader is also introduced to various members of his family and the community.  Along the way, deaths occur, and conflicts in the town erupt and are dealt with, all taking place at a time when drought has stricken the region.  

Born and raised in Saskatchewan, W. O. Mitchell excels in capturing the rhythm of small town life on the prairie during this period.  It is a story of a child coming to terms with a world that seems magical, mysterious, and often unforgiving in its strict dictates.  Although set in a time period almost a century ago, issues and reactions to them make the story a timeless one that will resonate with readers today.  It is a poignant portrayal of childhood innocence and the coping that is engendered by loss.  This Canadian classic deserves a wider audience here in the States, as well.

Cuba : An American History / Ada Ferrer

In thirty-three insightful and nuanced chapters, Ada Ferrer presents the history of Cuba spanning more than five centuries, beginning with the Spanish arrival on the island and concluding with President Obama’s visit in 2016.  The author highlights the cultural, economic, and political ties between Cuba and the United States.  As she shows, each country’s earliest history was strongly influenced by the weight of colonialism, and the lasting legacy of slavery as well.  The Cuban government did not abolish slavery until 1881, and many Americans set up sugar plantations on the island to take advantage of this workforce even after it had ended in the US.

Ferrer, a Cuban American historian, has strong Cuban ties.  Her parents fled Havana for Miami in 1963 when she was a baby, after Castro’s implementation of state run socialism.  Throughout her professional career, she has focused her research on the island’s history.  While all of the country’s eras are touched upon, the one that receives the most attention is the epoch surrounding the Fidel Castro led revolution and his leadership during the second half of the 20th century.

Two events are explored in depth: the Bay of Pigs Invasion and the Cuban Missile Crisis.  While this book serves as an excellent introduction to the country’s history, just as well done is the exploration of the relationship between Cuba and the United States over five centuries.  While Ferrer clearly has empathy with the Cuban people, as a historian she does not favor one country over the other, but lets the facts speak for themselves.

Divided By Two

Last night
there were seven plump plums
fresh from the market,
an auspicious number to be sure;
nonetheless,
temptation results in subtraction.

This morning
after a meal’s agreed upon division
three remain,
and yet still ripe for the picking,
how can appetite
resist the possibility of indulgence.

Tonight, with
just one plum left in the bowl
it has come to this,
given King Solomon’s solution,
will a half satisfy
hunger’s avarice for the whole.

Churchill’s Shadow : The Life And Afterlife Of Winston Churchill / Geoffrey Wheatcroft

Before Winston Churchill became Prime Minister of the United Kingdom at the start of World War II, his political career had more lows than highs.  As Geoffrey Wheatcroft details in this examination of Churchill’s life and afterlife, before 1940 he was someone often derided and held in low esteem by other politicians, even those in his own party.  His leadership during the war changed that perspective, and in the ensuing decades there have been numerous biographies that mostly sing his praises.  Wheatcroft’s book takes an opposite tack, highlighting his many faults and documenting numerous failed policy and military decisions undertaken under his guidance.

The list of sins the author presents includes Churchill being a racist, an imperialist, a poor parent, an author who relied on ghost writers for his later books, and someone overly intent on enhancing his own legacy.  Wheatcroft does grudgingly credit Churchill’s early leadership against Nazi Germany in 1940 and 1941, but even then his praise comes with caveats.  In the book’s later sections, he investigates how Churchill continued to influence politics in Britain, and even more so here in the United States.  He highlights how both prime ministers and presidents have invoked his name to give credence to their political moves, especially in the realm of military actions taken around the globe.

Wheatcroft presents a wealth of evidence to condemn Churchill’s legacy, but his attack is too one sided to tell the entire story.  Throughout the book, he focuses on the negatives while negating the positives.  For anyone wanting to understand Churchill’s career and later influence on Twentieth Century politics, this book is a welcomed counterpoint.  But to fully understand the man himself and his lasting influence, I suggest that readers also consider other writers’ accounts that portray him in a more positive light.

Backslider

As we cleaned out
Father’s side of the cedar closet
I found the first
inside a coat pocket that doubled
as an ashtray.

Another heap was
discovered with matchbooks
and a defunct
Zippo lighter in a blackened tin
behind the furnace.

There were more
by the garden half buried in
a still smoldering
compost pile used to fertilize
his flower beds.

Beneath maps in
the car’s glove compartment,
an opened pack
proved conclusive evidence of
a habit never shaken.

Bitter Dregs

Only bitter dregs remain.
Left behind in this encroaching quiet,
the swallows have vanished
without so much as a fare-thee-well.
Like a glass of red wine
forgotten overnight on some counter,
October has turned sour.
The cicadas have long fallen silent.
So too the morning birds.
In withered grass, crickets perform
their solemn elegy.
No matter how many layers worn,
blood begins to congeal.
A chilled wind has turned against us,
causing a stampede south.
Zombie leaves haunt the landscape,
adrift in their disconnect.
Dawn postponed, it acquiesces to
the dark’s dominance.
A black hole, October now feasts on
day’s diminishing returns.
The geese, with a plaintive apology,
abandon us to our fate.

The Possibility

After dusk, in a few simple lines
I ink the image of pines on a winter night.

Above, separate clouds are hung
to bookend that slice of moon’s wax or wane.

Passion is sought in the addition
of the wind’s accompanying resuscitation.

But how lifeless it remains
when the listened for gust fails to materialize.

Confronted by midnight’s quiet,
a humbled pen conjures only the possibility.

A Lie Someone Told You About Yourself / Peter Ho Davies

In Peter Ho Davies’ compelling account of fatherhood, A Lie Someone Told You About Yourself, the unnamed narrator is an author and creative writing professor.  The novel opens with him describing the guilty emotions that he and his wife experience when they decide to abort a first unborn child, when prenatal tests suggest something might be seriously wrong with the fetus.  He then goes on to describe their attempts to conceive again and the pregnancy that follows.  After a difficult birth, the narrator explores the joys, stressors, and overwhelming changes that parenting brings about, personally and in his marriage as well.  The narrator’s candid honesty is refreshing as he describes the ups and downs of raising a child.  

This complex novel addresses the emotional roller coaster ride of parenting, such as its attendant guilts, pleasures, and frustrations, and the sense of duty it instills.  While serious in places, the narrator’s wry humor makes a regular appearance.  Even though no names are provided for the father, mother, or child, most readers will come away feeling as if they know this family better than their own.  This is a story that will especially resonate with parents.  But its appeal should be universal since what Davies describes here is the circle of life.  Well done indeed.