Into the Misty Abysses: Collected Poems

This little collection of fifty two poems by Gary Edwards manages to capture and lay bare a whole range of thoughts and emotions of the sort that define the human spirit, from youth through advancing years: The joy, the sorrows, hopes and fears that make us what we are. The youthful search for an identity and self worth--a journey through "long blind alleys" and "noisy smoke filled rooms . . . peering deeply into strange dark corners" searching for lost innocence. A growing awareness of the passage of time, the changing of the seasons and the fleeting moments of youth. And an appreciation of the subtle beauties of nature ("Netherworldly mist / Softly shrouds the lifeless trees / Ghostlike shades of gray"). The beauty of the restless ocean, and a recognition that though they may lack a deeper meaning ("waves are only waves"), their beauty is enough.

Finally, laced throughout these poems is an awareness, an acceptance, that all is not forever. That there will be an end:

That I could plumb the depths of its beauty-
The shrouded wood
Or understand what makes it so inviting.
But for me it is enough
To watch it from afar
And know that it has always been there,
And will remain when I am gone.