Tracking the Rabbit

by R.D. Armstrong

RD Armstrong investigates his feelings upon the death of his father, using a metaphor that had appeared to him in dream - a black rabbit. This symbol is carried through both prose and poem on his journey of grief, remembrance and exploration, tracing the meaning of death and the vicissitudes of family relationships.

35 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 2016

About the author

RD Armstrong has been writing since high school, but it has only been in the last sixteen years that he has been his most consistent and prolific. Besides writing poetry and short fiction, he is also the publisher of the Little Red Book series (59 titles and counting)and for 11 years published the Lummox Journal, a small print digest of the literary arts. Many of the titles are available on the Lummox Press website.

In 2008 RD decided to publish a four volume collection of his best work: Fire and Rain - Selected Poems 1993-2007 Vols. 1 & 2; On/Off the Beaten Path - 3 Long Road Poems; and El Pagano and Other Twisted Tales (short stories).

Lummox Press also plans to publish a Best of the Little Red Books collection early in 2009, as well as, a collection of essays and a passage from The Name is Dillinger by Todd Moore.

Reviews

[Stirling Davenport · Rating 5 out of 5]

Anyone who has lost a loved one - especially a parent - can relate to this book. Through prose and poetry, Armstrong explores his grief and other feelings about the death of his father. It starts with his dream about a black rabbit, and the poet carries this theme through the book. His father died with dementia, and having been a formidable figure in his prime, engendered all sorts of conflicting emotions. And there is the guilt of the survivor - the offspring who always feels he could have done more. I especially like the sparse quality of poetry that illuminates so well the depths of complexity in grief - those incoherent thoughts not seen or heard that dart in and out between the lines like the rabbit. The dense prose that intervenes adds shape and color to the narrative. In the end, Armstrong gently lets his father go, and we are the better for it.