DAVID ANDRES: A memorable premiere.

A poet's first published book is a huge affair personally, and many poets (understandably so) attempt to include both their very best, their personal favorites, poems in new styles that they wish to showcase as a way of testing out response … as well as are concerned with presenting a collection that reflects the poet's own personal conceptions of how long and varied a first book should be. After all, one never knows if there will be several published poetry books after one's debut.

That is also – in my opinion – true of this first published book by Mr. David Andres. Yes, there are a few individual poems that I might have edited out for various reasons, but on the whole Mr. Andres reveals a seldom-found talent amongst rhyming poets … and amongst poets in general. You see, this talented David Andres manages to bridge both literary experimentation and technical mastery, understanding of the historical traditions and styles of poetry, as well as the ability to say “What the heck - I will create my own play on the expected and the unexpected” … and he also has the artistic sensibility to avoid the well-known pitfalls of dramatic over-emotionality in poetic personal reflections as well as the “inevitability”, the “sing-song” quality, and unbridled and unplanned for humor that often accompanies much modern-day rhyming verse. In other words, it would appear that Mr. Andres both knows what he is doing in his poetry … and also is adept at balancing the experiential journey presented to the reader with a sense of analysis - and of having something to say, and to write about.

David Andres will most probably not be a “one timer”. I expect that he will continue to publish poetry, and to experiment and to develop himself artistically. This because it is evident that he is an “artist” and a “poet” … and not just a hobby writer, not a greeting card poet, and not a second-rate songwriter/poet.

My own particular favorites from this book include: “Just friends”, “Faded Glory”, “The Dream”, “E Pluribus Unum”, and the title poem: “The Blue Collar Cobbler”. I would further comment that Mr. Andres is not afraid to challenge the traditional perceptions of rhyme and meter in his writing, as exemplified several places in this book. A few wonderful passages follow:


The past had shaped and fashioned us
into its sculpted mold
the granite of our days gone by
and fables yet untold.

from “Just Friends”.


For so many memories, they came to be
with these family gatherings dear
and though all of this happened deep within the past
it is all only yesterday's cheer.

from “The Preciousness of Memories”.


and


from “The Dream”:

For what is love if not a dream?
I'll ever more pursue,
that great escape, that sacred place;
the dream I find in you.


Would I venture to challenge Mr. Andres in any way? Yes, perhaps on one point: to consider his occasional usage of old-fashioned “poetic” phrasing and wording, which can be quite effective when used with purpose – and less effective when not.

Give this book a read – whether you like rhyming poetry or not, and perhaps even if you think that you do not really like poetry – you might be surprised at how much you relate to what David Andres has to say, and how well he expresses himself.


- Literary criticism by Adam Donaldson Powell, 2009.


(art by Adam Donaldson Powell.)