In This Wild Water: The Suppressed Poems of Robinson Jeffers

It was after I got out of the Army... after Vietnam had found its surreal closure. I was living in Pacific Grove and wondering just what madness the nation might have gotten itself involved in next. By happenchance, or serendipity I came into possession of "The Double Axe" by Robinson Jeffers. Here was a man, a great mind, that went to his grave an "isolationist", much like the wild, untamed country he lived in. He dared to speak out about the insanity of WWII and the horrendous loss of life. His poems were haunting, but not like Wilfred Owen or Sasson. They spoke of lives being tossed away for nothing, wasted for a cause not worthy of their measure. Yes... they quietly slid these works into a corner of the literary world and tried to forget them. Now I am no longer young... now another war whips up in my face and forces me to again think of wasted lives. It's easier this time, but the voice of "The Double Axe" and Jeffers' words ring true to me. No... Jeffers isn't the easiest poet to figure out... his style can get wordy, clumpy. Let us make no mistake about this,though... conscience speaks loudly, and now is the time to again renew the conscience of Robinson Jeffers. Arkangel