The Pilgrimage

by Dave Oliphant

In the tradition of literary pilgrimages, the one is this book is both physical and spiritual. Dave Oliphant moves us around West, Central, and East Texas in poems named after Wink, Denton, Houston, Honey Island. These poems find the spiritual in the ordinary and share such insights through sight and sound-especially the many sounds of music. Read the poems aloud and listen; you will hear music through the entire collection. The first poem starts the book's pilgrimage with a psalm of daily life, and the final poem offers a magnificent chorus of folk songs, symphonies, yodels, pop music, and more. Oliphant's pilgrimage presents a montage of striking personalities, from the saintly to the damned, from the famous to the unnamed. Lovers of poetry will return often to this book, always finding lines to ponder and treasure.

270 pages, Paperback

First published December 3, 2012

Reviews

[Merrill S]

I guess it’s my gluttony for fascinating true crime that I really enjoyed this book. Fast read with just the right level of narrative to enjoy historical information without overly academic detail.