From Library Journal
This is a groundbreaking book about the Vietnam War that shows deep compassion for people rather than simply displaying brutality like so many other books on the subject of war, particularly this war. Witness these lines from "Song in the Green Light": "A young girl sings in the green light,/songs of leaves on the river, evening rain./She strains to keep time with the boy/who fights the feedback of his bass./Her voice, so clear, holds the strength/of her song high out over the audience." A mystic collection of poetry from a witness, this book serves as a poetic history of the Vietnam war from a new perspective. Each poem in this collection moves quietly into the next one, grabbing the reader's heart. Highly recommended.
Lenard D. Moore, "Shawensis," Shaw Univ., Raleigh,
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Lenard D. Moore, "Shawensis," Shaw Univ., Raleigh,
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Review
"...a book of poems that unlock their beauty slowly..." -- Harvard Review
"[The poems] are all informed by Bowen's reflective sensibility, and they are all etched with precision and grace." -- The Progressive
"This is a different kind of Vietnam book; this collection evolves around a natural empathy between actors on a human stage that's almost mythic in scope and concerns... This poetry is shaped out of a love for people, as well as a painful passion garnered from the experience of war. One feels that a witness is sharing heartfelt moments when reading." -- Yusef Komunyakaa
