A Little Door to the Dark

by Matthew J. McKee

Whilst roaming about the archipelago of Japan, the casual traveler will stumble upon ancient Shinto shrines. Most have a large gate you must pass through to reach the inner sanctum. And on rare occasion, a mirror will be placed between the upper and middle beams of the gate. This is a sacred mirror, often used as a votive vessel for the divine god of the shrine, because... it cannot lie.The mirror is pure, and everything reflected in it, the indisputable truth. So, if you ever happen to stop and look into a Shinto shrine's mirror, know, the god is looking back at you, into your soul.Drawn from the nature of Japan and the nature of a sleepers mind, the poems in A Little Door to the Dark invite the reader to revel in the sun with the birds and coffee starved travelers, and dance through the night with the monsters and world curious ghosts. Introspective, retrospective, and keenly aware of the awkward slant words can take when you turn them upon themselves, McKee asks his readers to consider what the world would look like if you slipped and fell through a midnight mirror; an invitation to a world where everything is what it truly is, the shadow-self brought into the dark where it cannot hide.A tone darker, a shade clearer, and a step askew: A Little Door to the Dark collects in words the stories waiting to be told lying in wait all about us, and the musings of a man who has too many selves to talk to about them. Earnest in its questioning of life, charmingly strange, strangely haunting, and endearingly quirky; this book is a reflection, a window into another person's life and soul. But as any young child will tell you, all windows also make wonderful doors.Future rave reviews for A Little Door to the Dark: Grandmother: "I will gush over every word. If you allow me, I will talk for hours about its genius."Grandfather: "Yeah. I read a bit. Liked it."Brother: "It was good, yeah. It was good, but..."Father: "Still working my way through it."Mother: 'Dead! But blowing on the winds full blast with all the moral support I can muster from the afterlife!'

138 pages, Paperback

Published June 10, 2019

Reviews

[Vickie · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very enjoyable book of poetry. Wonderful imagery. I enjoyed the variety of topics about human behavior and unique looks at everyday life. Poet Matt McKee is a joy to read. I sent his book to my nephew, who also really enjoyed the poetry. He and his brother told me how much they enjoyed reading McKee's work aloud to each other. Mckee's poems evoke a range of human emotions from humor to sadness to hope to despair to love.