Anne Leigh ParrishEvery poet, since the first of us held a quill to vellum, writes of love. What is it? Why its power over us? Where to find it, and how do we know it’s real? As human beings, poets or not, we’re obsessed with love at times in our lives, and these moments—or years—leave their mark.
Jeff Fearnside writes of love in his new collection, Lake: Love Poems. Divided between Central Asia and Oregon, two places dear to the author’s heart, these poems take the reader on a magnificent tour through rugged landscapes, shaped by both nature and human hands.
This reviewer’s acquaintance with foreign lands is scant, but the luminous and vivid descriptions Fearnside offers put me on familiar ground. Here are the markets of Kazakhstan, the exotic fare, colorful people, fabulous food, a spirit of welcoming and camaraderie that make one long to travel abroad and find comfort in the smile of a stranger; to note our similarities and celebrate our differences.
Closer to home, Oregon also stirs deep reverence and passion. If you have never stood on a rocky beach with mountains at your back suffused with mist and the sound of seabirds, Fearnside’s well-chosen words will take you there. Water, rain, and trees are the subject of much devotion, respect, and an enduring curiosity about the power of time to alter what we think is permanent.
Of particular interest were the somonka, a Japanese poetic form with syllable counts of 5-7-5-7-7. I’ve worked with this form, myself, and find it compelling and highly challenging! Fearnside is clearly a master.
From “One Day in May”
It is your blood pulse,
your own essence making up
you: over rapids
and falls, into eddies, pools,
you tumbling to meet yourself.
My introduction to Fearnside’s work was Ships in the Desert, a collection of essays about his time as an educator in Kazakhstan. After reading Lake, it’s clear that Fearnside is an accomplished, sensitive, and dedicated writer fluent in both poetry and prose. It was both an honor and a pleasure to read his work again.
*
Lake: Love Poems by Jeff Fearnside
Cornerstone Press, 2026
130 pages
Pre-order direct from the publisher here: https://secure.payconex.net/
పెద్దన్న
దాదా హయాత్
బాలాజీ పోతుల
పాణిని జన్నాభట్ల
విశీ
శ్రీనివాస్ గౌడ్
కె.పి.లక్ష్మీనరసింహ
Add comment