Review & Giveaway: The Lamps of History by Michael Sandler
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Source: TLC Book Tours Paperback, 98 pgs. I am an Amazon Affiliate
The Lamps of History by Michael Sandler explores the human condition and our struggle to grapple with our own mortality. Sandler begins the collection with just that concept in "Gauze" where the narrator has surgery and as he goes under from anesthesia "Now breathe deeply, and I vanish,/a plastic wristband flashing Vacancy/" (pg. 9) There is that fear, especially as we age, that our lives will vanish and our bodies will be cast aside as empty shells.
It is easy for us to foster a myopic point of view -- "Isolation arrests a point of view" ("Lighthousing", pg. 19) But on occasion, changes in our view can help us see the best, like in the title poem, "Lamp," where amber light can dull the anguish of the past. From bullying to loss, Sandler tackles many of the trials of the human condition, rooting his poems in recipes, family tradition, and advice from his father. While not all of these moments prevented sadness, anger, or loss, the narrator looks back on how each represented the care and love of family -- a foundation that strengthened over time even as those family members passed.
from "Garlic Press" (pg. 44-45)
until desire flashes again. What keeps drawing me to those blades? When the ensuing sight of blood subverts a show of nonchalance. I try to take a firmer grip, one more inexorable squeeze. Sandler explores desire and how it draws us to things that may not be good for us. In the same collection, "Cenobite" explores shyness and antisocial behavior as the narrator walks in a dog park and finds that he's unlike the social dogs, standing apart he fails at small talk and interacting. He needs to force himself to try to move beyond his neutral ground apart. There is a peace in aloofness and a camaraderie that can be found with animals alone.
The Lamps of History by Michael Sandler is about the human condition in all of its stripes of good and bad, memory and action. Sandler's use of science, science fiction, and photographs helps to illustration of struggle, perseverance, and peace with what has come before and what awaits the future.
RATING: Cinquain
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About the Poet:
Michael Sandler is the author of The Lamps of History, a poetry collection that explores connections between personal and historical experience while wrestling with the ambiguities (and choices) between connection/estrangement and faith/doubt. For much of his adulthood, Michael wrote poems for the desk drawer, while working as a lawyer and later as an arbitrator. He began to publish in 2009. Since then, his poems have appeared in scores of literary journals including Arts & Letters, Valparaiso Poetry Review, and Zone 3. He lives in the Seattle area. To learn more about Michael and his work, please go to sandlerpoetry.com.
GIVEAWAY: 1 copy of The Lamps of History
Leave a comment on this post about why you want to read the collection and an email where I can reach you by March. 8.