The poems in Tricks of Light, a breathtaking collection from award winning writer Thaddeus Rutkowski, meditate on myriad ways of seeing not merely the small, astounding mysteries of life but how seeing, the effort to see clearly, might be the most important thing of all. Under the clear and steady lines, with spare, precise imagery, the poems pulse with the competing urges of love and loneliness. There are also startling comparisons between observational moments and the tender practice of the Buddha that are perfectly balanced with humor. To the patient watcher, a city becomes the universe where the observing self on a bench contemplates a snail, which is, in fact, a wad of gum. At a time when reality itself is questioned and truth appears in short supply, the poet, through his keen eye, assures us that enlightenment is not only possible, but necessary.
About the Author :
Thaddeus Rutkowski is the author of seven books, including the poetry collections "Tricks of Light" and "Border Crossings." His novel "Haywire" won the Asian American Writers' Workshop's Members' Choice Award, and his creative memoir "Guess and Check" received the Electronic Literature bronze award for multicultural fiction. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, International Herald Tribune, and The Outlaw Bible of American Poetry, and many other publications.
Review :
"With meditative, simple descriptions, Tricks of Light made me view every little moment as a collection of words waiting to be discovered and carefully placed onto the page."--Chavisa Woods, author of 100 Times: A Memoir of Sexism
"Rutkowski's poetry is a vivid and impacting work...[Tricks of Light] is a demonstration of how every conversation, every encounter, and every detail we come across could have more to it, and about how we recall these moments can say more about us than we realize." --Quail Bell Magazine
"Funny, disarming, and profound, Rutkowski will twist a cliché into something unique, trick you into a new way of seeing. This is a terrific collection!"--Denise Duhamel, author of Scald
"A gorgeous, seamless stream of vignettes flows with cinematic breadth...Here is a poet at the top of his craft reaching a meditative transcendence and generously giving it to us as if ripping a bouquet of memory from his chest." --Regie Cabico, poet and theater artist
"Tricks of Light inhabits that liminal space between what we see and what we think we see, what we know and what perpetually eludes us. Artfully wry and delightfully awry, these are poems rooted in keen observation of a life as it unfolds." --Joseph J. Capista, author of Intrusive Beauty
"A beautiful collection, full of keen observations, wry and self-deprecating humor, and twists that make poem after poem a surprise and delight." --Scintilla.info
"Sparing but powerful language to conjure poems that make you stop and shudder or open your mouth to take in a gulp of air." --Sensitive Skin Magazine
"Rutkowski's poems are a delight to read, for their wry humor, the odd things on which they ponder, and the rich humanity that underlies them all." --Compulsive Reader
