Sometimes The World Is Too Beautiful

Sometimes The World Is Too Beautiful follows the life of a Mississippi poet, from early mistakes (the hacking up of a turtle to make a comb for his mother) through to marriage, children, divorce, a love affair, and concluding with the death of his parents. Some mistakes are learned from - following his debacle with the turtle the poet develops a deep affinity with the natural world, often very beautifully expressed ("Yesterday, pruning azalea bushes, / A female cardinal let / Me look into her brown eyes"). Others, perhaps chiefly that most Luciferian of flaws, pride, persist, see him summoning monkey demons, or, lost in life's maze, shouting for a confrontation with the Minotaur that never comes. The writing is lucid, evocative of powerful emotion, often of an almost shockingly high standard. Though this book is perhaps especially for those who "... sense the dilemma of the rare, lost ones, / Who yet can't embrace any belief simply / To save themselves--", the quality of the poetry will speak to everyone.