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Story Poems From a Western Colorado Boyhood
98 pages, Paperback
Published April 1, 2025
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
January 22, 2026
4-1/2 ⭐️ Book! I rarely read poetry, but Davis’s poetry reads easily like prose! Since I am from Western Colorado - I connected with most of his pieces! But “The Kingdom of Grand Mesa” keyed my memories of “night fly fishing” with my Dad on the shores of South Mesa Lake.
June 11, 2025
Patrick McManus meet Wendell Berry
While these stories mostly describe life in a place (western Colorado), they also describe an era (the 1950s and ‘60s). Thomas Davis’s parents resembled my own in some ways: They often set us loose to explore the out of doors without what we now call “helicopter parents.”
Our own unsupervised adventures were quite tame compared with those of Thomas. While Thomas was a thoughtful bookworm, his brother Gary somehow talked him into nutty, half-baked adventures. For example, both boys were gimping around on crutches soon after being released from the hospital. Gary decided they should go hunting because between them they had “two good legs,” one for the gas and one for the clutch. When their father found them near exhaustion, they were taking turns with a rope around the waist dragging their deer. Their father’s only comment? “At least you left a note.”
Despite several such Patrick McManus-type misadventures, these story poems are poetic. They capture the beauty of children punishing a bully, the anguish of a boy dealing with his disability, and end with love poems dedicated to his wife.
Don’t let the term “poems” make you hesitate to purchase the book. They are stories but written by a poet who uses descriptions like “moon-stained cold” that catch your heart.
While these stories mostly describe life in a place (western Colorado), they also describe an era (the 1950s and ‘60s). Thomas Davis’s parents resembled my own in some ways: They often set us loose to explore the out of doors without what we now call “helicopter parents.”
Our own unsupervised adventures were quite tame compared with those of Thomas. While Thomas was a thoughtful bookworm, his brother Gary somehow talked him into nutty, half-baked adventures. For example, both boys were gimping around on crutches soon after being released from the hospital. Gary decided they should go hunting because between them they had “two good legs,” one for the gas and one for the clutch. When their father found them near exhaustion, they were taking turns with a rope around the waist dragging their deer. Their father’s only comment? “At least you left a note.”
Despite several such Patrick McManus-type misadventures, these story poems are poetic. They capture the beauty of children punishing a bully, the anguish of a boy dealing with his disability, and end with love poems dedicated to his wife.
Don’t let the term “poems” make you hesitate to purchase the book. They are stories but written by a poet who uses descriptions like “moon-stained cold” that catch your heart.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews