Friday, April 5, 2013

RAINING QUINCES



Several years ago, while searching the internet for information on long-distance walking, I discovered The Solitary Walker, a wonderful, multifaceted blog published by Robert Wilkinson.  As the title of the blog reveals, Robert is a passionate walker. He has walked thousands of miles in the U.K. and the rest of Europe.  According to my last count, he has completed five caminos on the network of pilgrim paths that lead from various parts of Europe to Santiago de Compostela, Spain.  However, as any reader of The Solitary Walker will soon discover, walking is not Robert's only passion.  He is also a gifted poet, and he has just published his first collection of poems under the title of Raining Quinces.

The new collection contains over eighty poems which are organized under three sections: Camino (poems inspired by Robert's wanderings on the French and Spanish pilgrim routes to Santiago); Lightness of Being (light verse and humorous poems); and Blue Fruit (poems on love, life, nature, landscape, art, and family relationships).  Underpinning all of the poems, however, is a spiritual quest, an ongoing journey to pierce through the veneer of the material world and discover something of eternal value.  

In "Deep Blue," one the last poems in the book, the poet is engaged in an imaginary conversation with Deep Blue, the name of the chess-playing computer which beat world chess champion Garry Kasparov in a famous 1997 match.  When Deep Blue questions the value of poetry in modern times, the poet reminds it of how difficult it is to compose poems —

                                         In words direct as sunlight,
                                         Subtle as moonbeams
                                         And real as seeds and stones.

Readers of Robert's new poetry collection will discover that the poet's own standards have been clearly achieved with both grace and beauty.  These poems are "direct as sunlight, subtle as moonbeams, and real as seeds and stones."  In ways that are both unexpected and pleasurable, they open our eyes and hearts to the realities of life; they allow us to see our own questing hearts in the hearts of others; and they remind us that a fearless creative life is itself a path to understanding — perhaps even redemption. 

Raining Quinces can be purchased through both Amazon US and Amazon UK.  I heartily recommend it.  I also highly recommend Robert's excellent new online poetry magazine, The Passionate Transitory, which features poetry from contemporary poets throughout the world.  The magazine also features interviews with these poets.

12 comments:

  1. Thank you for the heads up George. I love the book's title.

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  2. I love the title as well, Barb. I think you would also enjoy the contents. Robert is a fine writer with a deep sense of the mystical, as well as a great sense of humor.

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  3. A good read, isn't it? You're right to give links to us and uk Amazon. I think I'll go and add a US link to my post...

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    1. Yes, Dominic, it is a good read, and many of the poems reveal new insights in subsequent readings.

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  4. This is a wonderful review, George. I, too, have Robert's collection on my table and relish opening to a random page to read what I find there. I completely agree with you that he opens the reader in ways that are "unexpected and pleasurable." I think anyone with a searching heart would enjoy Robert's writing. Now I hope he will collect his travel/walking essays into a book, because I enjoy his prose as much as his poetry.

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    1. As you say, Ruth, anyone with a searching heart would enjoy this collection. By the same token, I think that it resonates in a special way for those of us who have long admired Robert's peregrinations — the intellectual and spiritual journeys no less than the physical ones. And I agree with you entirely that a collection of essays on Robert's travel/walking/pilgrimage experiences would be a delight.

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  5. Thanks so much for this, George. You are an absolute star.

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    1. You're welcome, Robert. If you've read my reply to Ruth's comment, you can see that you have an audience out there that is clamoring for more.

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  6. As Robert is my nephew by marriage, I can vouch for what a talented chap he is too George - I wish him every success with this book.

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  7. Thanks, Pat. Robert is talented indeed, and it's great to know that his writing will now find a wider audience.

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  8. Yes, Cait, I'm quite sure you would enjoy Robert's poetry.

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