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For two sample poems, click the links below:
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The poems in And Shadow Remained are Ken Waldman's best--they're dark, sad, and knowing, fragmented snapshots of family regret, busted relationships, and a man moving through the harsh Alaskan terrain as he tries to stay warm with a song. Insights aren't sufficient, good intentions never good enough, as we learn in the emblematic explosions of "Depression Glass" or the desecrated bible in the harrowing "My Father's Gift." There's humor, too, though, to distract from hunger (who can resist a poem titled "When Meat Was Meat" or "Satan Found!"?), and, finally, enough food here to feed a lost army. The poet offers recipe after recipe that he assures us will comfort and sustain. -- Gaylord Brewer From an unhappy barmaid escaping her Juneau job mid-shift "she'll duck out at 10/leaving the bar shorthanded" to his family of origin in suburban Philadelphia, Waldman's moving third collection charts the shadows and light of human experience, celebrating "the heart/that red cask/of hunger, light." -- Lisa D. Chavez |
