Soot

Keystone Chapbook Series #5

by Jeff Walt

Poems by Jeff Walt. Number Five in the Keystone Chapbook Series, selected as co-winner of the 2009 Keystone Chapbook Prize by Karen J.

"Jeff Walt's collection is filled with dirt, grit and dust. These tough poems squint in the bright light but focus, fear both real and imaginary dangers but still face the day, fall but get up to brush themselves off and move on. Make no mistake. This is not a collection of love poems, but there's love here, hidden in the cracks of sidewalks, in the fur of an old alley cat, even in the aisles of an adult store . . ."

Jeff Walt was born and raised in Clearfield, Pennsylvania. His poems have appeared in numerous journals, including The Gay & Lesbian Review, Inkwell, New Millenium Writings, Clackamas Literary Review, Bamboo Ridge, Bay Windows, and Connecticut Review; in several anthologies, including Gents, Bad Boys, & Barbarians and The Poets' Grimm. He has one previous chapbook, What I Didn't Know (1998), and his full-length collection, The Danger in Everything, was published in 2001 by Mad River Books. He now lives in Honolulu where he facilitates poetry workshops through the University of Hawaii Outreach. Visit him at

Genres: Poetry

27 pages

First published January 1, 2010

Reviews

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had the privilege of officially "blurbing" Jeff Walt's chapbook. What did I say? His collection is filled with dirt, grit and dust. These tough poems squint in the bright light but focus, fear both real and imaginary dangers but still face the day, fall but get up to brush themselves off and move on. Make no mistake. This is not a collection of love poems, but there's love there, hidden in the cracks of sidewalks, in the fur of an old alley cat, even in the rows of an adult book store that sells sex toys.

All in all, one of the best chapbook collections I have ever read!

[Neil · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jeff's book is raw, honest. I felt I went through the soot and came out sanctified in the end, like a middle-aged body! Read my interview with Jeff Walt.

[Chander (jeff · Rating 5 out of 5]

My uncle Jeff . . .

IS FREAKING AWESOME .

duh . . .

[Julene · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a wonderful book of poems. A hidden gem full of rich images that you will want to savor. The title comes out of the history of miners in Pennsylvania. In the title poem, ".... Night on their grave/faces. Monday blues black/every bituminous day of the week." His language is precise yet broad and elevates common voices to heroic.

In the poem, "Two Weeks After Your Death," he captures the grief in the details, ".... I look closer now,/at everything://a bee bobbing from cup to cup, a flower's calyx—/early September and already stripped/of sepals—dark mauve,//a shade of rot. I keep remembering/the bright day we picnicked naked, each flower/a small, petaled mirror reflecting the sun.//I lie down, cuffed/to this grief, flat against the cold/slab of earth."

He is up and coming, watch for more of his work. I'm looking forward to his first full size book. And to hear him read.