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Binding: Paperback
ISBN: 978-1-57131-422-2
Pages: 88
Publish Date: Dec, 2005
Genre: Poetry
Some Church
Poems
BY David Romtvedt
In Some Church, Wyoming Poet Laureate David Romtvedt defines the intersection of a person’s political, social, and spiritual life. Offering vignettes both intimate and expansive in nature, these poems are informed by Romtvedt’s world—both the immediate, rural landscape of his home in Wyoming, and by socio-political forces outside of his control. In a voice that ranges from ambling to pissed-off, Romtvedt captures the essence of the American West in the tradition of Frost, Williams, and Ginsberg.
I look down on my daughter’s face as she sleeps
She is more emissary than gift.
There is a union that each of us has with the other.
There is a real you reading this poem. . .
Romtvedt pulls together the absurd details and grievances of life: a dying neighbor whose tree is occupied by vultures, a daughter who is tear-gassed at a peace rally, the march of pick-up trucks headed for a Bob Dylan show, even a yellow rubber Buddha-with-cell phone figurine—all are fodder for his poetic imagination. Above all, these poems speak to an American consciousness, both at home and abroad, and an arching dedication to personal obligations.
"It is nice to hear from this poet who at his best gathers what is serious and what is dreamy and what is funny and makes them stand up together. David Romtvedt is like a loyal consul who represents a species that has done some terrible things: undeluded, he still loves us, and keeps laying out more high-hearted policies for us all."
—Carol Bly
