I Went Looking For You

by Ruth Lepson

Pure and graceful and it takes much time to come to those three. Here they are. Fragile and objective, the view of the world from here. It is how a person sees when looking. Very clear. —Fanny Howe These wonderful poems by Ruth Lepson are deeply felt meditations on family, friends, lovers, the people she “can’t leave behind.” The book begins with poems about places, mainly Swampscott, Massachusetts, a town on the ocean that she loves to visit. “Time Line” then makes something like a drawing out of the past, and “Function Theory” suggests a sort of mathematical model of a girl’s thought processes. These are followed by several delicate poems about Ruth’s aging parents and others about deceased friends. This private world is then enlarged, often with humor, to include strangers both overheard and seen, as well as works of art. These are the “things I can name” out of which she makes her life. The last half of the book is a tender and perceptive series of poems about love that persists across disconnections, loss, and time. Idyllic and dissonant scenes are recalled. Dreams prolong the dissolved relationships. And finally, the dreamer wakes up “surrounded with life.” — Joel Sloman

Genres: Poetry

82 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2009

Reviews

[Alexandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Even if it comes off simple at times, it's a truly lived-in private world that Ruth Lepson lets readers get a glimpse into in this collection of poems. From the book cover art (front and back) to the painters and poets mentioned here and there in dream sequences or foggy memories, I couldn't help but feel as though there was a heavy inspiration borrowed in the way of impressionism and abstraction. And while her writing put to paper the themes of love, mortality, melancholy, and desire, it was her artistry—the unique perspective only an artist could offer while ruminating—that remained at the forefront and made her "simple" prose lively and emotionally resonant. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this poet for the first time ever!