Heading West

In this luminous new collection, John Ziegler brings not only his poetic sensibility but also his painterly eye to describe the natural world. The language is fresh and often surprising: “…a hawk riding overhead, backlit wings like soft flames…,” Angus cattle are “fudge-dense silhouettes, against the frozen fog,” an old woman is squatting in slippers “worn smooth as a bench,” and the cello is an “ocean liner leaving a French port.” Having migrated to the West, he asks: “The light here, is it brighter, cleaner?” And I am willing to bet the image of the man “off to Lamy and the rodeo,” in “At the Station,” will stay with you as it has stayed with me—a whole life’s story in “…favoring the left leg, he pulls himself into the pullman.” —Steven Deutsch, author of Brooklyn, winner of the Sinclair Prize In his debut collection, John Ziegler explores loneliness and aloneness, restlessness and peace with a poet’s words and a painter’s palette. “We live at a distance. We all do,” he writes in an early poem, then captures that feeling in traveling West by train, settling into a landscape so different from his home in the East, finding joy in watching crows “lifting like pages of warm ink…their pitched barks red as raw salmon,” and a hummingbird whose body “…seems to be carried on an invisible breath.” Color takes center stage in many poems—”copper cattle, …black foothills, …ochre mountains, …a Maya blue sky.” John’s language is fresh and direct, braiding his dreams and sensibilities with the tanigible: “…soup simmering, rich with chicken fat, rice, lentils,…crusty bread with thick smears of yellow butter, a wedge of ginger cake.” And in lines to see and savor, he describes the sky as “...a field of mumbling gray with a long cloud resting like Grandmother’s soft shawl curling over the distant, rounded hills.” This is a volume for all the senses—highly recommended. —Sarah Russell, author of I lost summer somewhereand Today and Other Seasons
ASIN: 1639805486
VSKU: BVV.1639805486.G
Condition: Good
Author/Artist:Ziegler, John
Binding: Paperback
Note: Any images shown are stock photographs and product may differ from what is shown.
Condition Notes: The item shows wear from consistent use, but it remains in good condition and works perfectly. All pages and cover are intact including the dust cover, if applicable . Spine may show signs of wear. Pages may include limited notes and highlighting. May NOT include discs, access code or other supplemental materials.