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Retreating Aggressively into the Dark
Poems by Harry Calhoun
Excerpts
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Bio
Harry Calhoun is a lucky man. He has the painting on the cover of this chapbook above the mantel of his fireplace. He bought it from Gayle on a magical day when it caught his eye across the room of her gallery. It was love at first sight. A few years later, he met Trina. So truly, he’s lucky, blessed, even. He’s had a poem or story published here and there, and an interview with him and his wife has appeared all over the Internet. Go ahead, Google it and see. You can also check out his trade paperback, I knew Bukowski like you knew a rare leaf, the recently published The Black Dog and the Road and his chapbooks, Something Real and Near daybreak, with a nod to Frost. He’s had recent publications in Chiron Review, Chiaroscuro, Orange Room Review, The Centrifugal Eye, Monongahela Review and many others. He is the editor of Pig in a Poke magazine. Find out more at www.harrycalhoun.net.
Reviews
Harry Calhoun did what any good poet needs to do—put his heart on the line and let the reader watch it bleed. His poetic retreats are safe havens for every reader as he shines a light on the dark corners found within any individual’s private closet. Calhoun’s poems are exact, without waste and provide insight to what keeps his heart pumping, what scars are earned in a lifetime of highs and lows and in the end, he leaves us with a message of hope, that through it all, there is a sanctuary at the end of the retreat.
Casey Quinn, Prepare to Crash
Life begins as “gentle rain” that grows “into a thunderstorm” as we mature and confront the riddles of living. However, in Retreating Aggressively into the Dark, Harry Calhoun offers a sensitive affirmation for creating and celebrating each moment in life as “the eternal now and the eternal again.” Calhoun concludes with the Zen-like revelation that “As little as we know / of death we probably know less of life, / we suspect, all our life is suspicion, guessing.” Therefore life is the song, and “The song / is why we sing.”
Tony Zurlo, Quantum Chaos
Harry Calhoun’s latest collection Retreating Aggressively into the Dark is a thoughtful blend of contentment and melancholy, creating a pensive concoction for a fulfilling read. His straightforward style, coupled with an insightful and delicate wit, takes the reader on an introspective and poetic excursion exploring death, love and eternity with eyes wide open to the heart’s ever-evolving survival. Some memories we choose to forget and some may never be erased, but if we’re lucky we learn to savor them as a part of life’s extraordinary offerings as we are so gracefully reminded in “Alex and the rabbits in snow,” Be careful, somewhere back there is a little boy’s dreams. A poignant book, packed with haunting moments that will surely take your breath away as Harry so wisely states: The horse rides regardless of its masters. The light strikes sooner and the darkness comes too fast.
Carol Lynn Grellas, A Thousand Tiny Sorrows
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