An Almost Pure Empty Walking

by Tryfon Tolides

A stunning debut from the winner of the National Poetry Series

In his debut collection, chosen by Mary Karr as a winner of the 2005 National Poetry Series, Tryfon Tolides weaves together poems that speak of desire, loss, and small joys. Tolides was born in a tiny village in Greece and his work is rooted in the mountains and wind and the deep interior of that place; his poems express a longing and a searching for peace, for home, for beauty, for escape. These poems constitute a lament, whether they concern themselves with the difficulties of assimilation or the question of whether it is possible for people to live with one another in a spirit of true understanding. They prove that the physical and the metaphysical can share residence, can even be one and the same.

Genres: Poetry

80 pages, Paperback

First published June 27, 2006

Reviews

[Christina · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book feels like grief even when the poems have nothing specifically sad about them. It's very well written.

A star has been removed because I shouldn't have read it on an overcast day, because now I am settled into a sadness the sun can't melt, on account of there being no sun.

Total score: 4/5 stars

[w gall · Rating 5 out of 5]

In places the verses are very serious, and at other places are humorous. They are also, in various places, reverent and irreverent, clear and obtuse, thoughtful and flippant. The poems are fairly short.

[Natalie Bakopoulos]

lovely.