Scan barcode
A review by pturnbull
A Ranch Bordering the Salty River by Stephen Page
5.0
A Ranch Bordering the Salty River(Finishing Line Press) is a collection of twenty finely wrought poems by Stephen Page that tell the story of a man seeking paradise within a fallen world. Jonathan is an outsider who marries into an Argentinian ranch-owning family. He becomes the administrator of its twenty-five hundred acres and approaches his work with reverence and respect. In the opening poem, which takes place during a hard drought, Jonathan thinks that he can “enter the Myth / of Wood, the legend of its shade / to lick the dew off leaves.” At first, the obstacles to encountering “Lady of the Violets” are domestic, but they still feed his soul: a “moon phase” dog (in “Our Dog Dominic”), a child with “lake eyes large as sky,” a world with “sharp-scented jacaranda” and “mist guarding us from trees” (in “Hen Eggs”). Soon the poems become populated with a variety of exploiters and cheats known only as Tattler, Post Maker, Malingerer, Cattle Thief, Horse Thief, Accomplice. The mythic Wood recedes, changes. But the idea of it still drives Jonathan.
The poems in this collection are lovely and evocative. Page is precise in his descriptions; he tells us the lot number where calves are born, the number of months without rain, the number of kilometers the ranch is from the sea. Page knows how to surprise the reader with his word choices. In “The Drought,” “the pods hang brown and brittle / the leaves twirl dunly.” Poems are rich with detail of character and setting. One of my favorites is “Dear Santa Ana,” a letter Jonathan writes to the ranch itself. In it, we meet “the eighty-two-year-old neighbor who begged with palm held out,” and feel how the land “exhaled as if you had been holding your breath for a very long time” after new locks were installed.
But the biggest treat here is the theme: the man who seeks the divine, both in the Wood and outside on the ranch. The journey Jonathan takes on this quest might seem like endless labor, but I’m with him every moment. Each poem is a beauty, the tone amplified by Jonathan’s seeking, even when we learn the reality of “shit on your shoes, shit on your / pants legs, shit on your truck, shit / on your hands…” (from “Tree Root”).
Page is an accomplished poet who weaves a strong spell. I highly recommend A Ranch Bordering the Salty River to all poetry readers. I am grateful to the poet for providing me with a review copy.
The poems in this collection are lovely and evocative. Page is precise in his descriptions; he tells us the lot number where calves are born, the number of months without rain, the number of kilometers the ranch is from the sea. Page knows how to surprise the reader with his word choices. In “The Drought,” “the pods hang brown and brittle / the leaves twirl dunly.” Poems are rich with detail of character and setting. One of my favorites is “Dear Santa Ana,” a letter Jonathan writes to the ranch itself. In it, we meet “the eighty-two-year-old neighbor who begged with palm held out,” and feel how the land “exhaled as if you had been holding your breath for a very long time” after new locks were installed.
But the biggest treat here is the theme: the man who seeks the divine, both in the Wood and outside on the ranch. The journey Jonathan takes on this quest might seem like endless labor, but I’m with him every moment. Each poem is a beauty, the tone amplified by Jonathan’s seeking, even when we learn the reality of “shit on your shoes, shit on your / pants legs, shit on your truck, shit / on your hands…” (from “Tree Root”).
Page is an accomplished poet who weaves a strong spell. I highly recommend A Ranch Bordering the Salty River to all poetry readers. I am grateful to the poet for providing me with a review copy.