For Now, We Have Been Spared

Written during thefirst three “Covid Years,” For Now, We Have Been Spared is a collectionof complex sequences and carefully constructed shorter poems that reflect theuncertainty of living through a pandemic—not only in terms of the immediatethreats to the body, but also the tectonic shifts in how we perceive the natureof existence itself.

The opening sequence—asustained, metaphorical meditation on the devastation caused by the multipledeaths of a friend’s sons, sets a tone of elegiac reflection that runsthroughout the collection. Near tragedies are paired with simple joys; sicknessis mirrored by health; coming-of-age is followed by poems immersed in theexperience of aging.

These are poems that carry the weight of decades of observation and experience. Their subjects rangefrom the commonplaces of domestic life to the public realm of politics. Whatbinds all of them together is their grounding in sensory detail. Extended narrativeis present in nearly every poem. The subtle cadences of prose poetry also maketheir presence felt. These poems are set in particular, recognizable places andpopulated by everyday people who find themselves confronting tryingcircumstances. Always, though, hovering at the edge of perception, thereremains the possibility of redemption and grace.