The Singing Underneath
1987

Like James Wright, Harrison articulates a vision of nature that is both celebratory and dark. He rejects “wisdom, faith, knowledge” for a “sense of things as they are.” But the world he observes is far from ordinary: “just beneath the world we see,/ there is a silent singing that breaks out/ at moments, in flickering points of light.” Never far from the beauty of the natural world, however, are “dark presencesnow that I have become/ aware of them, to be aware of me.” Harrison’s metaphorical lyrics are infused with this ambiguity, and lead to moments of self-discovery: “our mouths twisting/until we realize that we, after all,/ are secretly disturbed about our lives.” For contemporary poetry collections. Robert Hudzik, P.L. of Cincinnati & Hamilton Cty.

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