The evening light : poems / by Floyd Skloot.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Skloot, Floyd.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

American poetry--20th century.

American poetry.

Physical Description:

85 pages ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

Ashland, Or. : Story Line Press, [2001]

Summary:

Skloot possesses an extraordinary talent, demonstrated in this, his third book of poetry. The title is subterfuge, luring belief in a metaphor about endings. In his skilled hand, it is less about endings than acceptance, reconciliation, and strength.

Section One "An Inner Wind", draws inspiration from artists of the nineteenth century; Donizetti, Glinka, and Van Gogh among others. As they approach the end of life, Skloot recounts familiar stories in fresh ways. Monet is revealed by his wife, Camille. She watches him argue over art as if poverty were not an issue, though he could not pay the men who moved the family to Argenteuil. "These are men who would paint / their wives on death-beds if the light were right". He captures Monet in a simple statement.

Skloot leaps forward with the striking poem "Oncogene" opening Section Two: "Bittersweet Nightshade". No doubt of what is to come, he states in a matter-of-fact line "The day when he was told / he already knew. It was always there".

Death comes by train, water, and age in the next poems. "A Proper Season" asks: is there a proper season for death? Max and Rosie, fathers, brothers, and mothers are given an opportunity to speak. Careful with their stories, he counters pain with recalled joy, hurts smoothed. He speaks of struggle:

"Wasn't our home / the heart of storm, our shore given / over to the wrack of ebb and flow? / I no longer know where to turn / when loss like a gust of wind / swings me back".

Closing sections "Pure Gift" and "Daybreak" are welcome relief to the burdened reader. Skloot implores the reader to take what has been given and move ahead. Not without regrets, of course, but with the wisdom of experience. Whenhe says "This is where the sea of my childhood ends". he speaks of more than physical location as an older man who has buried his parents and become the adult. Continuing to grow in the final section, he fills it with seduction, food, colors, and smells, ready to live again.

After finishing, rereading the first section brings new insights, answering why he included poems so disconnected from what follows. As adept with fiction and essays as he is with poetry, Skloot writes poems as tiny novels. All five parts of this collection unite like chapters in a book that's well worth reading.

Contents:

I An Inner Wind

Argenteuil, 1874 15

Glinka Dancing 17

Kokoschka in Love, 1914 18

Donizetti in a Coma, Bergamo, 1848 19

Manet in Late Summer 21

Seurat on the Vernal Equinox, 1891 23

Van Gogh and Toulouse-Lautrec on the Way to Pere Tanguy's 24

II Bittersweet Nightshade

Oncogene 29

Brain Lesions 30

Bedridden 34

Bittersweet Nightshade 36

Self-portrait with 1911 NY Yankees Cap 37

Autumn Equinox 39

A Change of Weather 40

Channel 41

III The Proper Season

Critical Care 45

Her Game 46

Max at Table 47

Toomey's Diner 48

Visiting Hour 49

Terminal 50

Leakage 51

Memory Harbor 52

Evening Song 53

End Stage 54

The Breakers 55

IV Pure Gift

River Walk 61

The Winter Branch 62

Hurricane Watch 64

Near the End 66

Slievemore 67

Hop Fields in Winter 68

Day of the Rainbow 69

Protection Island 71

Swans in Galway Bay 72

V Daybreak

Seduction 77

Still Life with Eggs & Whisk 78

Sourwood Nocturne 79

Daybreak 80

Casserole 81

Frogs Returning Moon 83

The Gem 84

Flight 85.

ISBN:

1586540009

OCLC:

45058448