Flatline Horizon

by Don Stinson

There, your passport is stamped in blood . In Flatline Horizon , Don Stinson's autobiographical meditations on death in various forms--aging, homogenous thought, homeplace, intolerance and despair--implicate and immerse the reader in the deep sigh of paradox and often painful ironies of Middle America, prairie dust and memory. The confluence of the personal and political, informed by the history and events of speaker and journey, offer taut musicality that surprises more than measures. The manner in which these poems see sing deftly subtle tones of quiet depth, secure insecurity, muted hope, and tenuous love. These are words of a rooted journeyman with wise, wide eyes. --Quraysh Ali Lansana. Author of The Walmart Republic & Revise the Works Celebrating the Writings of Gwendolyn Brooks There's such gorgeous scope in these poems. People and place, history and heroics, sorrow and love and the poet's compassionate sensibility. I emerged from them feeling as if I know the poet, myself, his place, my place, all the more richly. Dip in anywhere, you'll be rewarded with his power in language, rhythm, insight. Read Don Stinson's Flatline Horizon front to back, as I did, and you'll come away illuminated, wounded, and glad. --Rilla Askew. Author of Kind of Kin & Most Notes from a Wounded Place Don Stinson's Flatline Horizon is a beautiful book that confronts such difficult issues as love, death, loss, and prayer--all with such strange and wonderful imagery and precision of language. There is nothing flat beyond the horizon we see Stinson's gift emerge into a powerful reckoning. I loved it. --Brandon Hobson. Author of Where the Dead Sit Talking These beautifully incantatory lyrics explore life's emotional gladness and suffering, waking and dreaming, hope and despair, and above all, love and loss. In this insightful collection, Stinson shows himself to be a master of poetic forms and a keen observer of the human heart. --Paul Bowers. Author of Occasional Hymns

Genres: Poetry

80 pages, Paperback

Published September 7, 2018

Reviews

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

Poetry books generally begin with their strongest poems, and end the same. For me, in that regard, "Flatline Horizon" is upside down. I was mostly unengaged for almost the first quarter of this book.

Then something surprising happened. As I continued reading, the poems all became good, even excellent, and absorbing.

Toward the end of the book, again, the poetry was less sharp yet still held my interest. And I appreciated Stinson's approaches and style. For those stunning poems in the middle of the volume, poems of the land and of family, I give this book five stars.

[Kaitlyn Crow · Rating 4 out of 5]

I particularly enjoyed the longer pieces in this collection, “California”, “Never Pills”, and “Winter Solstice 2016” being where I felt the strength of the writing really came out. I liked the pieces about place, people, and family.