Drawing Back - Lester Hirsh

In this volume of poems, Lester Hirsh pulls back the curtain to examine parts of his past, where armatures of emoIon dwell, and the reader is drawn into that inner sanctum where beauty and sadness reside. There are poems here that lure the reader into the poet's imaginaIve field, from his observaIons of nature evident in- The Blue Heron; to the textured Overlooking Lake Winnipesaukee; and Fly Fishing with Angus; where images come to life as if on a viewing screen. Behind this veil, are subtle and clear references to poets and prose writers, whose impressions sewed inspiraIon into the fabric of Hirsh's work. From the playful Robert Frost rhythms in the poems-She Feels the Need, and The Morning Dove, to inflecIons of Sharon Olds and Wendel Berry in the more dramaIc-Pulling Poems for InspiraIon- In addiIon, a reflecIve look at Charles Bukowski is burnished in the poem, Every Now and Then. In the prosaic piece-The Sound of Waves, a discerning reader would recognize the Itle borrowed from the Yukio Mishima novel. But lodged in the poem's subtext, the poet affixes images of Sylvia Beach's Bookstore, Shakespeare and Company, in the 1920's Paris, Ernest Hemingway's memoir- A Moveable Feast, and ruminates on our transient state of being. There are other colorings too, like a Cezanne brush stroke, and reverenIal asides dedicated to arIsts and friends who passed the torch when they parted, as noted in the piece-Triptych. A final metaphor skates on the landscape between Fall and Winter, in tandem with the delicate love-in-war story of Boris Pasternak's novel, Dr. Zhivago. Mr. Hirsh recreates a scene from the movie sequel, in his poem, It is Usually This Time of Year, set like a coda at the end of a symphony. Drawing Back, brings substance, senIment, and the poet's euphoria to its pages. The poems draw readers to the portal of familiar or imagined places, worth visiting again and again.