Irresistible first lines open onto luxuriant poems reminiscent of Howard Nemerov's best:
"With precision and alacrity, aloof as machinery"
"Using his limbs as a portable chair, the barefoot boy folded"
"Snap-brim fedoras and Episcopal chivalry"
I am not kidding, nor am I fawning. Tim Leach's poems have it nailed: perception, description, ear, and wit:
She is sugar in my tea, salt in my soup,
oxygen in my blood, yet I've never seen her
except on reflection. When mirrors as windows
reverse symmetry to mockery, nothing serious
is serious, wit being wiser than truth and
more amusing. (from "Narcissus Reflects on Anima")
The trout out of water on a mud flat flip-flopped,
hapless as a flapjack in a fry pan.
He mouthed bubbles--closest to a shrug he could come
having no shoulders or chin.
Gills fluttered like chicken wings lacking lift. (from "Phylogeny")
That's if you happen to like poems that move and stun you rather than toy with you. Leach's poems explore modern artworks, military service in Vietnam (the author is a veteran), urban and suburban life, and myths. Leach's poem "Nude Descending a Staircase (number 2) 1919" beats the pants off X. J. Kennedy's celebrated version. I wish I could copy the whole poem for you here. Leach has been widely published in a long string of fine literary journals. He deserves to be widely read. I do know what I am talking about, and that I'm making a large claim. I mean every word of it.
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