Neil Harrison

Back in the Animal Kingdom Neil Harrison

"Harrison's poems derive from a curiosity and passion for the out-of-doors. The poems seek to answer questions that probably cannot finally be answered. Yet out of necessity Harrison perseveres. 'I need to scent again / the mountain air // in that high camp / up on Cutthroat Lake,' he writes. 'I need that light, / that god, / the sun.'" His animal kingdom remains a mystery, but its 'timeless burning / pulse' conceals wildness beyond the reach of the human mind. Among these wonders are the great blue heron, the snowy egret, the coyote, the Canadian goose, the fence row 'ripe with plums, grapes, sunflowers, coneflowers / and beyond, vast fields of golden corn and beans.' A place where, 'from high heavens a dark hawk / unlocks its talons teaching a snake to fall.' This 'glorious chain of mysteries goes on,' and that, in itself, is perhaps the deepest mystery. Harrison's poems are beautifully crafted, with just enough rhythm to deflect the craft. Most of the poems are written in free verse, but from time to time he introduces a conventional form-as, for example, 'Go Gently On,' a strikingly lovely villanelle. Individually and collectively these poems offer a marvelous and compelling journey into the animal kingdom, a journey that 'sets us spinning / out once more into the awe-filled everlasting . . .'" -WILLIAM KLOEFKORN, Nebraska State Poet