Dark Waters

by James Allison

" Throughtout his life, James Allison always wrote poetry. Filled dozens of notebooks with it, but never published anything as his life wound from northern Indiana to northern California to Northern Virginia. Then in 2009, at age 55, he suddenly had a dramatic, compelling homelessness. His own. He was living in his 1999 Mazda pickup truck, spending most of the next two years parked in church or shopping center parking lots, and living during the coldest months in homeless shelters. Sitting in the driver's seat of that pickup truck, often in the morning, Allison would pull out a pen and a notebook and record what he saw, what he felt and what he feared. He eventually found a job and a place to live, and this year he published 'Dark Waters,' a volume of poetry which captures the despair and the moments of hope, of living on America's streets in the 21st century. . .'This was a very dark period of my life,' Allison said. 'The waters are up to your head and you have no idea if you're going to get through it or not. You go through periods of depression and discouragement. You have no idea what the next day's going to bring you ."
Tom Jackman, 'Homeless for two years, James Allison wrote poetry in his truck, and now publishes "Dark Waters" ', Washington Post, Dec. 17, 2012

86 pages, Hardcover

First published February 17, 2012