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The Bridge: Poems
A collection of award winning poetry by David Holper that walks with us by candlelight, side-by-side, as we put one foot in front of the other on the bridge that takes us from the depths of darkness behind us to the greater mouth of darkness ahead.
100 pages, Paperback
Published April 1, 2019
9 people want to read
About the author
David Holper
10 books10 followersDavid Holper has published one novel The Church of the Very Last Chance (Deeper Magic Press) and four collections of poetry, Bord för En (Swedish for “Table for One”) (Broken Tribe Press), Language Lessons: A Linguistic Hejira (Deeper Magic Press), The Bridge (Sequoia Song Publications) and 64 Questions (March Street Press). His poems and stories have appeared in numerous literary journals and anthologies. He lives in Eureka, California, where he served as the City of Eureka’s inaugural poet laureate from August 2019-August 2021. He loves that Eureka is far enough away from the madness of civilization, so he can still hear the Canada geese. His website is https://www.davidholper.com
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
May 18, 2019
David Holper’s transcendent poetry collection, The Bridge, compassionately confronts that which troubles and transfixes us personally and collectively. Rooted in the eternal; vivid descriptive lines connect us to the endless circle of seasons, reminding the reader that there are few things “one can know with certainty: birth, age, the slow surety of our race preparing to pass.”
Contemplating humankind’s misunderstanding of the natural world, the poet is remorseful “for the way we/looked at the redwoods/and imagined money.” Yet all is not lost. Despite our mistreatment, he remains hopeful, his awe and reverence for the natural world manifesting at times the ecological and spiritual visions of Gary Snyder and Allen Ginsberg. Climbing a grassy hillside, hawk above, the nearby sea finding its voice, “[I] held my breath with the/holiness of it all.”
The heart-rendering title poem, “The Bridge,” recursively builds upon Nietzsche’s opening epigraph, “No one can build you the bridge on which you, and only you, must cross the river of life.” Sometimes crossing that bridge, steps heavy, slow, faltering with the recognition that “what had once mattered was covered in sticky/unyielding darkness” makes that crossing harrowing indeed.
Clear-eyed, assured, wise, “The Bridge” is a much needed, necessary poetic achievement.
Contemplating humankind’s misunderstanding of the natural world, the poet is remorseful “for the way we/looked at the redwoods/and imagined money.” Yet all is not lost. Despite our mistreatment, he remains hopeful, his awe and reverence for the natural world manifesting at times the ecological and spiritual visions of Gary Snyder and Allen Ginsberg. Climbing a grassy hillside, hawk above, the nearby sea finding its voice, “[I] held my breath with the/holiness of it all.”
The heart-rendering title poem, “The Bridge,” recursively builds upon Nietzsche’s opening epigraph, “No one can build you the bridge on which you, and only you, must cross the river of life.” Sometimes crossing that bridge, steps heavy, slow, faltering with the recognition that “what had once mattered was covered in sticky/unyielding darkness” makes that crossing harrowing indeed.
Clear-eyed, assured, wise, “The Bridge” is a much needed, necessary poetic achievement.
June 14, 2019
Deeply personal and profoundly provoking, set in places from the solitary and natural to the anonymously crowded and urban, my friend David Holper's latest book does what good poetry must do: think, feel, "and know / ourselves for who we are, or might well be" ("Villains")
May 11, 2019
Tremendous journeys in this new collection of poems. Highly recommended.
September 23, 2019
Poetry is a funny thing. Sometimes it appears too esoteric, stuffy, inaccessible, but that is just the opposite with The Bridge. Nonetheless, Dave's words are intertwined in such a way that they are always one step ahead of the reader; fascinating in creativity and variety of combinations, verbs becoming adjectives, feelings personified and given voice, creatively structured, powerful, painful, healing. While there are some hard reads between these pages, I'm tempted to keep The Bridge on my desk as a go to for inspiration, and hope that anyone reading this review won't hesitate in purchasing a personal copy as well. Brilliant.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews