Red Hawk – författare

A savoury new collection nominated for the 1996 Pulitzer Prize in Literature. An impressive sequel to his previous work which was also nominated for the Pulitzer Prize. A reviewer once described Red Hawk's poetry as "having that rarest of all virtues: a sense of civilization." Another said that his "poems are so exquisite, they seem almost to have been translated from an alien tongue." Nowhere is that talent more on display than here, in his third book of poems.

Red Hawk’s poetry has long been acclaimed by his fellow poets, Pulitzer Prize winners and National Book Award Finalists, for its gutsy honesty, plain language, and consummate skill. Never is that poetic skill in rendering the truth more evident than in this, his ?fth book of poetry. It has some of his best poems ever, including a group of sonnets on which he’s been working for thirty years. Now, in the words of Miller Williams and Coleman Barks, Red Hawk is the only American poet doing groundbreaking, award worthy work in the sonnet form popularized by Robert Frost and William Shakespeare.

In this compilation of 58 short (10-line) poems, the poet skilfully describes those qualities of heart, mind and action that characterise the awakening of “the Feminine” within the human person. As the Feminine is awakened in both man and woman, the “Mother Spirit” emerges in each one, highlighted by a display of nurturing, kindness, gentleness, generosity, cooperation and forgiveness of self and others. THE WAY OF THE WISE WOMAN is a catalogue of such “Feminine” virtues and behaviour and a series of contemplations to be studied, prayed and enjoyed for their poetic beauty. Not a book for women only! In fact this is a book for all weary pilgrims on the Path of spirit, particularly those who lament that, after long years of hard work or practice the “breakthrough” still eludes. Both women and men are imprisoned by a judgmental “god” of righteousness and vengeance leading to a hardness of heart. THE WAY OF THE WISE WOMAN is dedicated to liberating its readers from this inner tyranny. As a training-manual of sorts, the poems are far from sweet whisperings, however. The Feminine, as the poet proclaims, is, also, fierce, strong, ruthlessly honest and confrontational as well as supportive. This collection may well serve to guide the seeker in self-examination as the poems encourage a refined vision of “what is,” of “what is possible” and a growing sense of the presence and attention needed to enter the halls of wisdom. Such training as the book presents seems critical in a social and political climate distinguished by a tragic dissociation from the heart and a growing alienation from the mother-wisdom of the earth. The author writes from long personal study and experience. His years of discipleship within religious schools of esoteric knowledge, allows him to share what has been gained and lost from following a Path. The inner struggles of this type of work on self are rendered with raw precision, while being beautifully delineated in these poems. Any reader will benefit from the fruits of understanding the poet has gained from these struggles.