Wolves howl in the hollow of night, cats yowl from crags and forests, but people describe sunsets, address their dead, pray to what they feel may lie beyond the stars, and perhaps even take note of mysterious figures lurking in alleys.
In Talking to Shadows, his latest collection of poems, Ron Houchin replies with sensitivity and wit to things noticed or sensed, offering a celebration of sights, sounds, and objects that elicit responses through the phenomena of their being. Whether evoking the presage of a coming ice age, a photo of an unknown ancestor in a family album, or the presence of nature during a lone walk across a night field, Houchin's poems converse with the shadows of existence that permeate a world filled with beauty and mystery.
"Ron Houchin's poetry is haunted in all the best ways-by spirits of the past, to be sure, but also by birds, trees, weather, language, and Ireland. The poems in Talking to Shadows are like stepping into a Celtic thin place. Beguiling, mysterious, sacred, they show what Houchin's readers have long known-that he is one of the finest poets working today."
Jason Kyle Howard, editor of "Appalachian Review"
"As always, Houchin's poetry is driven by precise, perfect images that conjure an entire world for us and allow us to luxuriate in his language, his unique perspectives, and his inimitable ability to create mood. He keeps the reader in the grasp of his powers whether he's listing all of the dogs he misses from his lifetime or describing the dawning of spring. This is luminous work. Houchin has lon
Silas House, author of "Southernmost"
"Conjured from time's liminal territories, Houchin's poems drift in from alleys and dank wells, snowfields and leaden rivers, empty churches and cemeteries. Others leave the wildwood, lingering near rain-beaded windowsills or bric-a-brac shelves, inhabiting skyscrapers or four-lane highways or windswept islands. All knock hard at the door, intent on stirring our keenest state of remembrance."
Sherry Cook Stanforth, coeditor of "Pine Mountain Sand & Gravel"
