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Saluda Reflections
Although Arthur Turfa has traveled to many places, his writings contain images of Western Pennsylvania and the people he knew growing up. Perhaps that explains his interest in languages, people, and various places.He has lived elsewhere in Pennsylvania, as well as California, Virginia, New Mexico, Germany, and now South Carolina. Each of these, as well as from his travels, has influenced his poetry.Through his careers as pastor, educator, and Army chaplain, he has come into contact with people from nearly every walk of life.In 2015 his first book of poetry, Places and Times, came out from eLectio Publishing. Turfa has also been published in print and 0n-line journals nationally and internationally. He has retired from some things, but not all. Currently the Midlands of South Carolina are home to him and his family.
46 pages, Hardcover
First published July 6, 2018
1 person is currently reading
8 people want to read
About the author
Arthur Turfa
13 books161 followers Placed in the Top Ten of the Pnagolin Review Poetry Prize 2019; https://thepangolinreview.wixsite.com...
About half of my life has been spent in various parts of Pennsylvania. Most of the rest has been spent in New Mexico, California, Virginia, South Carolina, and Germany.
My career path has been bi-vocational; I am a Lutheran pastor and Army chaplain (Retired Reservist with veteran status) and educator on secondary and post-secondary levels.
I wrote a lot of poetry when younger, then I took a 20-year break and resumed around 2002.
eLectio Publishing released my first book of poetry, "Places and Times" in April 2015.
"Accents" is my second poetry book, available on Amazon KDP since February 2018. This is thematically my best work. "Gemini", my third and mystical book, came out the same month from Broad River Books.
"Saluda Reflections" was published by Finishing Line Press in July 2018.
Working with my creative partner, award-winning artist Carol Worthington Levy, I have two books of ekphrastic poetry. "A Village Remembered" is on Amazon KDP since November 2019. "All in the Family is on Blurb as of October 2020.
My first novel, "The Botleys of Beaumont County: came out on Blurb in September 2021. It is a literary fiction novel.https://www.blurb.com/b/10799783-the-...
Currently, I live in the Midlands of South Carolina with or near my family.
About half of my life has been spent in various parts of Pennsylvania. Most of the rest has been spent in New Mexico, California, Virginia, South Carolina, and Germany.
My career path has been bi-vocational; I am a Lutheran pastor and Army chaplain (Retired Reservist with veteran status) and educator on secondary and post-secondary levels.
I wrote a lot of poetry when younger, then I took a 20-year break and resumed around 2002.
eLectio Publishing released my first book of poetry, "Places and Times" in April 2015.
"Accents" is my second poetry book, available on Amazon KDP since February 2018. This is thematically my best work. "Gemini", my third and mystical book, came out the same month from Broad River Books.
"Saluda Reflections" was published by Finishing Line Press in July 2018.
Working with my creative partner, award-winning artist Carol Worthington Levy, I have two books of ekphrastic poetry. "A Village Remembered" is on Amazon KDP since November 2019. "All in the Family is on Blurb as of October 2020.
My first novel, "The Botleys of Beaumont County: came out on Blurb in September 2021. It is a literary fiction novel.https://www.blurb.com/b/10799783-the-...
Currently, I live in the Midlands of South Carolina with or near my family.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
August 25, 2019
Saluda Reflections is a beautiful collection of poetic verses developed into a journey with a beginning and an end. Written in a simple and lucid manner, the author charmingly captures his love for his town, expressing the highs and the lows that he has experienced. The poems are so well described that one easily gets transported to Saluda County and seems that one is actually living there. The book caters to all those who have an affinity with their home town or any place close to their heart. Some of the poems worth mentioning are One Morning You Will Decide, Reflection on Musgrove Mill and Today, and The Twelve Bridges Road. Highly recommended read for all those who are looking for light hearted and pleasant poems.
March 19, 2019
In 2015 I enjoyed reading Places and Times, a book of poems by Arthur Turfa, so I thought I would read his new collection of verse, Saluda Reflections, which was published in 2018. In my review of Places and Times, I described it as a collection of well crafted, pleasant poems, and the same can be said of Saluda Reflections. Pleasantness and being pleasant, things the world needs more of. On the cover of the book is a fine painting of three bare trees with slender trunks on the bank of a river, leaning slightly towards the calm water, as if in an attempt to scoop some of it up to be refreshed. So the title and the cover of the book tells the reader what to expect. It is indeed a book of reflections in verse on places and people its author has known in his life.
As an Englishman who has never been to America, I found it interesting to read the poems which explore the parts of America known to the poet, and what it is like for him to be an American in his times. One poem, called The Twelve Bridges Road, reminded me of the travel poems in The Narrow Road to the Deep North by Basho, particularly the last two lines:
"Other roads delight me
and I roam to different places."
In The Transfiguration of Cap'n Douglas, I enjoyed the train journey the poem took me on. Included in the collection are some fine love poems, such as One Morning You Will Decide, While Gazing At Water, E'en's Last Dark Hour, and Lingering At Castalia. That he is a Christian and has worked as a chaplain comes through in some of Arthur Turfa's lines, as in the first sonnet of Giles County Sonnets 1981-1984:
"Full of dreams and visions, here I tried
to fashion them into realities
and make the hills resound with hosannas."
I liked the way the comfort Arthur Turfa finds in poetry and music is revealed in the poem, Idyll: The Shepherd and His Muse on Parnassus Reflecting On the 2016 Election Campaign. His wish to retreat into the world of poetry and music to escape the "Republic of Cacophony" America became during the Presidential election campaign is understandable, one to find sympathy with.
It is clear that though there are things that sadden him about life as it is now, he reveals no signs of despair or negativity in his verse. His poems reveal his positive, good natured response to the people and places he has encountered, and they are always absorbing, a pleasure to read.
As an Englishman who has never been to America, I found it interesting to read the poems which explore the parts of America known to the poet, and what it is like for him to be an American in his times. One poem, called The Twelve Bridges Road, reminded me of the travel poems in The Narrow Road to the Deep North by Basho, particularly the last two lines:
"Other roads delight me
and I roam to different places."
In The Transfiguration of Cap'n Douglas, I enjoyed the train journey the poem took me on. Included in the collection are some fine love poems, such as One Morning You Will Decide, While Gazing At Water, E'en's Last Dark Hour, and Lingering At Castalia. That he is a Christian and has worked as a chaplain comes through in some of Arthur Turfa's lines, as in the first sonnet of Giles County Sonnets 1981-1984:
"Full of dreams and visions, here I tried
to fashion them into realities
and make the hills resound with hosannas."
I liked the way the comfort Arthur Turfa finds in poetry and music is revealed in the poem, Idyll: The Shepherd and His Muse on Parnassus Reflecting On the 2016 Election Campaign. His wish to retreat into the world of poetry and music to escape the "Republic of Cacophony" America became during the Presidential election campaign is understandable, one to find sympathy with.
It is clear that though there are things that sadden him about life as it is now, he reveals no signs of despair or negativity in his verse. His poems reveal his positive, good natured response to the people and places he has encountered, and they are always absorbing, a pleasure to read.
January 21, 2020
Arthur Turfa’s Saluda Reflections begins with a series of sonnets in a nod to the tradition of form, a subject he faces head-on taking us with him as he wrestles with geographies that form each poem thereafter. Reminiscent of Derek Walcott’s Prodigal and inspired by Rilke’s Duino Elegies, this collection breathes – inhaling the people, landscape, and history from the Susquehanna to the Chesapeake to the canals of Amsterdam, and exhaling a benediction rife with ontological purpose, spiritual contemplation, and unmatched gratitude. Lifting us with hosannas from the hills and grounding us with bacon-scented kitchens, these poems urge us to remember “there are other roads to travel,” other Tufta poems to enjoy, other delights just waiting for us to “[g]et the bags from upstairs.” This collection is alive!
~ Candice M. Kelsey, author of Still I Am Pushing
~ Candice M. Kelsey, author of Still I Am Pushing
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November 4, 2018Saluda Reflections, as the name suggests, is a book of poetry that has been written in the woods of Saluda County, South Carolina. It takes us on a poetic journey into Saluda as the place comes alive under the pen of Arthur Turfa. The poems paint beautiful word pictures of not only the physical features but also of the times, taking the readers into beautiful woods, faded old towns, mountains, bridges and the minds of the people as the various events unfold.
The book opens with Giles County Sonnets that bring alive the scenery right from the first line
Westward flows second-oldest river,
meandering among forests, mountains
and several scattered communities
Wyoming Valley, Pennsylvania is a beautiful depiction of a fading coal town and how it touches the lives of those who came to work here.
Another poem I enjoyed reading was Reflection on Musgrove Mill and Today with its battles in green meadows moving into cyberspace and chatrooms.
The Twelve Bridges Road is my favourite, because of the beautiful metaphors and symbols used by the poet.
At some point you must realize
the road only goes so far.
Eventually you sense that
there are other roads to travel
and that you will never
resolve the enigma.
Many beautifully expressive lines can be found throughout the book. Some of them are-
Her long auburn hair wafted
in the Santa Ana winds
as we walked the neighbourhood (from The Woman Who Knew Aldous Huxley)
an orange smog rolled in, just as toxic,
but slower-acting. Millionaire Messiah
promising flourishing mines and mills to
those who remained amid faded glories; (from Poisonous Fumes over Donora)
Before e’en’s last dark hour goes by.
Softly, my sweet, take I my leave of thee.
Like the wild geese now away I must fly. (from E’en’s Last Dark Hour)
The poetry doesn’t have much rhyme, as we traditionally might expect, but that is more than adequately made up by the story like quality of the book, that takes us step by step through the evolving landscape and society. The poet’s voice is gentle and soothing, and the tone is maintained throughout the book. Though at times, one might wish for a stronger poem, it is to be remembered that this is a book of reflections, and probably, the poet wants us to ponder along rather than react to things.
If you are too far away to visit the Saluda county, I suggest that you take this journey with Arthur Turfa, step back into the recent past and enjoy the beauty this place has to offer for the eye and the soul.
The book opens with Giles County Sonnets that bring alive the scenery right from the first line
Westward flows second-oldest river,
meandering among forests, mountains
and several scattered communities
Wyoming Valley, Pennsylvania is a beautiful depiction of a fading coal town and how it touches the lives of those who came to work here.
Another poem I enjoyed reading was Reflection on Musgrove Mill and Today with its battles in green meadows moving into cyberspace and chatrooms.
The Twelve Bridges Road is my favourite, because of the beautiful metaphors and symbols used by the poet.
At some point you must realize
the road only goes so far.
Eventually you sense that
there are other roads to travel
and that you will never
resolve the enigma.
Many beautifully expressive lines can be found throughout the book. Some of them are-
Her long auburn hair wafted
in the Santa Ana winds
as we walked the neighbourhood (from The Woman Who Knew Aldous Huxley)
an orange smog rolled in, just as toxic,
but slower-acting. Millionaire Messiah
promising flourishing mines and mills to
those who remained amid faded glories; (from Poisonous Fumes over Donora)
Before e’en’s last dark hour goes by.
Softly, my sweet, take I my leave of thee.
Like the wild geese now away I must fly. (from E’en’s Last Dark Hour)
The poetry doesn’t have much rhyme, as we traditionally might expect, but that is more than adequately made up by the story like quality of the book, that takes us step by step through the evolving landscape and society. The poet’s voice is gentle and soothing, and the tone is maintained throughout the book. Though at times, one might wish for a stronger poem, it is to be remembered that this is a book of reflections, and probably, the poet wants us to ponder along rather than react to things.
If you are too far away to visit the Saluda county, I suggest that you take this journey with Arthur Turfa, step back into the recent past and enjoy the beauty this place has to offer for the eye and the soul.
August 17, 2020
Saluda Reflections is a beautiful collection of poems by Arthur Turfa. The reader is sure to find life in Saluda county relatable as Turfa pens the human experience through the eyes of this town. Turfa's "Giles County Sonnets 1981-1984" immerses you in his world of rivers, forests, and mountains. The imagery is wonderfully penned with descriptions of scenery such as how the "Wide valleys extend to reveal autumns's/ splendor or springtime's greening radiance." These words leap from the page to become visions. Poem after poem, the reader becomes fully involved in this community's quirks of passing hikers, admired pastors, aloof teens, and lovers with minds full of wanderlust. This is a lovely collection by Turfa, and he appropriately ends by coming full circle from his initial exploratory nature writing with: "In a flash realizing all along/I was not seeking every side/ of many-sided Grail/ but that what I found/ was what I needed."
December 1, 2020
Arthur's poetry will take you into another place. Each poem tells a unique story. Arthur does a great job describing every small detail leaving you with a full vision of what he experienced. Arthur is a wonderful poet and has a very creative way of using words.
December 18, 2020
Wonderful collection of poems. I very much enjoyed reading them.
November 23, 2019
In reading Saluda Reflections, one feels transported into another time that existed long ago. The beautiful imagery makes one feel like you're living in that moment, sharing in the memory. Arthur introduces us to the inspiration behind the collection, including themes and past events that transpired, along with issues in the United States today. The underlining tone grasped by the remarkable woods of Saluda County, South Carolina. Favorites include Her Eyes, The Archipelago and The Sullen Expression of Growing Anger.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews