Things that Matter Now by Bob Stallworthy

Posted by Pearl Poetry Sunday, September 19th, 2010

Things that Matter Now, Bob Stallworthy, Frontenac House, 2009

“I thought of the poem about after your father died, the silence in the house”, an acquaintance tells Bob after her mother, whom she was living with, suddenly died. Another acquaintance who has returned to school after a long time away sent an e-mail saying that she turned to Bob’s poems to help her relieve the stress of school and family and church commitments.

The poems in Things that Matter Now are Bob Stallworthy’s exploration of his feelings, his thoughts about getting older, dealing with the loss of parents and of close friends. He also explores the desire to slow time down, hang on to moments. And the realization that he is angrier about some situations in the world now than he was when he was a much younger person.

Governor General Award winning poet, Robert Hilles, says of Stallworthy’s work, “Many of these poems, while set vividly in the present, reveal deep roots. This is a commanding and moving book that I will not soon forget.”

Author Barry Dempster, one of the three jury members for the 2009 Stephan G. Stephansson Award, commented about the work, “There’s considerable emotional power here, and an honesty that never grandstands or strains to explain itself.”

Richard Harrison writes of the book, ” In this book is the writing of a man who has found and accepted his power in the world. And, like anyone who understands his own influence in things, Bob writes with humility and confidence combined.”

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