The poet, Robert B. Cumming, is 94-years-old, so there is a lot of “after” that has come beyond “all’ kinds of times in his life! Bob’s life as a poet was preceded by his career as a research scientist for thirty years and as the founder and leader of Iris Press for twenty-five years. “With this volume, we now realize that Bob is a gifted poet as well as publisher. The craft of these poems is impressive: metrics and complex rhyme patterns (as in the villanelle "Long-Distance Runner") are deftly achieved, and . . . the formal restraint intensifies the poems' emotional power. Nevertheless, what is most memorable in these elegiac poems is their hard-won sentiment. They are never mawkish or self-pitying, but they are great-hearted, especially in their honoring of the love between Bob and his late wife Carmen. This collection shows a side of Bob we've always sensed was there but never seen so fully revealed.” – Ron Rash. “Yes, life is short and unpredictable, but when the love for Carmen enters Bob's poems, the dear nature of life is formed. Sonnets, sestinas, villanelles, filled with superb original nouns and verbs, create musical, melodious sounds that often blend, often jump out. Please read these aloud as well as silently to hear your own voice capture their grace. The sounds themselves will harmonize your soul.” - Bill Brown.
Oak Ridge, Tennessee: Iris Press, 43 pages. Trade paperback