A chapbook of poems.
From the Back Cover
In this thoughtful and well-wrought collection, David Radavich explores cycles of human experience as fundamental as the passage of time: the steady progression from dawn to dusk, the turning of seasons, the coming of night. "Time," he writes, "will never be/ more substantial than poems/now firm in hand." In every poem, the moment gives rise to a meditation on the emotional and spiritual dimensions of life. An original and compelling voice echoes throughout this deeply felt volume, making allusions to the more formal liturgies of "Matins" and "Vespers" seem completely natural. Canonicals bears witness to absence and loss but above all offers the solace of song. It is, in the end, about healing and redemption: "rediscovering what/has been lost by many others/and found again like/sunrise."
-Christian Knoeller
The poems of David Radavich's Canonicals suggest various masters-William Carlos Williams, Robert Creeley, the Surrealists-yet speak with an authority all their own. Sinuous and surprising, they both command and reward attention. Especially remarkable is the chiming, winding "Nocturne," a fine piece of footwork indeed.
-Robert West
In David Radavich's latest collection, "The day is bitter/as a sweet," and the poet demands, "Let me be there for it all." Each of these meticulously crafted poems leads us from darkness into hope-from rapes and military coups to the place where "your skin/is set fire/into new life."
-Jackie Sheeler
From the Back Cover
In this thoughtful and well-wrought collection, David Radavich explores cycles of human experience as fundamental as the passage of time: the steady progression from dawn to dusk, the turning of seasons, the coming of night. "Time," he writes, "will never be/ more substantial than poems/now firm in hand." In every poem, the moment gives rise to a meditation on the emotional and spiritual dimensions of life. An original and compelling voice echoes throughout this deeply felt volume, making allusions to the more formal liturgies of "Matins" and "Vespers" seem completely natural. Canonicals bears witness to absence and loss but above all offers the solace of song. It is, in the end, about healing and redemption: "rediscovering what/has been lost by many others/and found again like/sunrise."
-Christian Knoeller
The poems of David Radavich's Canonicals suggest various masters-William Carlos Williams, Robert Creeley, the Surrealists-yet speak with an authority all their own. Sinuous and surprising, they both command and reward attention. Especially remarkable is the chiming, winding "Nocturne," a fine piece of footwork indeed.
-Robert West
In David Radavich's latest collection, "The day is bitter/as a sweet," and the poet demands, "Let me be there for it all." Each of these meticulously crafted poems leads us from darkness into hope-from rapes and military coups to the place where "your skin/is set fire/into new life."
-Jackie Sheeler
