A Legacy of Shadows: Selected Poems

by David Lee

Bobby Joeif i should die before I wake...

I don't know if I believed in ghosts
before Bobby Joe Lee had his stroke

that big man we called Bull lying there
all them years in that hospital room

wasn't nothing they could do
but wait and see

if he'd try to wake up or let it go
he was like a lightning-struck tree

didn't even know it was gone
alone in there, blind and lost

until the next firestorm come
to finish him off

The PBS-TV documentary on David Lee was entitled "The Pig Poet," and according to The Denver Post that sobriquet didn't bother Utah's poet Laureate: "I've rarely in my life been without a pig." Pigs, and the gentle-hearted redneck roustabout John, feature prominently in Lee's narratives and are integral to what he calls his "aural agrarian saga." This saga, written over the past two decades, is also populated with some of the most authentically drawn characters since those of Mark Twain. Lee's small-town universe is frequented by tragedy and near-tragedy, and transcendence most often arrives in the form of salvaged humor, whether ironic, self-depricating, or ribald.

"David Lee's pig poems are the best thing to happen to animals in poetry since Kit Smart's cat.'-Thomas McGrath

"Lee's calculatedly simple narratives are wonderfully wrought. His is a welcome voice, neither academic nor urban."-Booklist

Also available by David Lee

David Lee: A Listener's Guide Reading from: A Legacy of Shadows and News from Down to the CaféAudio CD $12.00, 1-55659-137-3.

Genres: Poetry

300 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 1999

About the author

David Lee is the author of more than fifteen books of poetry including So Quietly the Earth, published by Copper Canyon Press in 2004. In 1997 he was named Utah s first Poet Laureate and has received the Utah Governor s award for lifetime achievement in the arts. A former seminary candidate, semi-pro baseball player, and hog farmer, he has a Ph.D. with a concentration in the poetry of John Milton. He taught in the Department of Language and Literature at Southern Utah University for three decades, where he received every teaching award presented, including teacher of the year three times.

Reviews

[Cathleen · Rating 5 out of 5]

My dad's favorite poet is David Lee, so when I saw this collection I had to read it. Many of the poems are written colloquially and in the character / from the perspective of John who has a very interesting way with words. These poems are character sketches, vignettes of times gone by, and mostly quite funny. Other poems are quite poignant, especially those that focus on the natural world. A real treat.

[Brian Beatty · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great colloquial narratives with a light humorous touch. More of this in contemporary poetry, please.

[Christie]

Ha ha - be jelous. I have a SIGNED and personalized note inside the cover of this book. David's greatest piece, this book is full of wonder. Everyone should own this book.