Ronnie McGinn's Poetry Page

New England native, Bradley Strahan is a member of the new Mallow Poetry Group, and recently I received a signed copy of his masterful book "This Art of Losing". His poetry is magnetic. Searching for words to give his writing a worthy description, on the back cover I found these comments from Susanna Roxman, author of "Broken Angels" and "Imagining Seals."

"Bradley Strahan is a poet whose work unites what you may term American energy - including a keen curiosity about the world-and a certain quiet European sensitivity. He has an unerring knack of describing townscapes, seashores, and other places so that you feel you have visited them yourself. He loves words and handles them with great awareness of their magic. And he possesses an artist's eye for the telling of detail as well as a profound understanding of the symbolic importance of color. In some ways the verbal equivalent of an Impressionist. Strahan always avoids the superficial, the obvious moral to draw. Instead, he hints at hidden depths of powerful emotions. His is a wise and at the same time passionate voice, one which you re not likely to forget."

You can get a copy of Brad's book from bradstrahan@yahoo.com

DARK WATERS

The river runs through rapids of sleep.
Silver fish leap the weirs
into black pools of memory
where things discarded long ago
lie like mossy stones
deep in muddy darkness.

In a room where all the corners shrink
into spreading shadows,
a child's toys lie
scattered on the tiles.
as a tired moon peers
through rain streaked panes
growing dimmer every hour.

On the last fretful edges of sleep
your fingers creep across the sheets
searching for a brightness
that filled your life
like sun on blue waters.

Outside your window
the first ripples of light
float in on children's laughter.

© Bradley R. Strahan