With the Eyes of a Raptor
by E. A. Mares
0-930324-58-7 Cost: $16.00
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Critical Praise for With the Eyes of a Raptor
Time sets its imprint on these poems of Tony Mares poems marked by the call of moonrise, by the soaring flight of birds. Anomie rides dark highways, beds down in cheap motels, man walks dog, or dog walks man, custom and language are displaced; we feel the pull of yearning, elegiac grief at the passing of a child. It is all inscribed here in this raptor's nest of memory.
— Cecile Pineda, author of Love Queen of the Amazon, Face, et al
In an age when the goal of creative writing factories is obfuscation, when revelation and honesty are the last and the least qualities emphasized, it is important that we read With The Eyes of a Raptor, by New Mexican poet, E. A. Mares. One great joy of this book is its broad range, from the intellectual and linguistic reversals of Charles Simic: "Imagine a life / where you die of loneliness / but come back to life if three neighbors / stunned by your absence / bring you back because it's a rule / you can't die like that," to the strength and vulnerability of Cesar Vallejo, the great Peruvian poet. Like Vallejo, Mares helps us begin to understand the mysteries of loss, in this case the loss of the poet's daughter. Through Mares' poetry, we become witnesses and partners of suffering, and thus begin to understand what Vallejo called "los golpes de la vida."
— Leroy V. Quintana, author of The Great Whirl of Exile, The History of Home and Interrogations, and other works.
Excellent narrative poetry, soul-filled humane stuff. Some in Spanish first, then English. The type of book, once you read it, you want to stand it up on the shelf, let continue its glowing as to what the full range and depth of the human is. Nothing hokey or workshoppy or PC here. Buy this book and regain your quiet rollicking humanity for only diez y seis $.
— R. Kimm, Small Press Review (March 2005)
Reviews
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Time sets its imprint on these poems of Tony Mares poems marked by the call of moonrise, by the soaring flight of birds. Anomie rides dark highways, beds down in cheap motels, man walks dog, or dog walks man, custom and language are displaced; we feel the pull of yearning, elegiac grief at the passing of a child. It is all inscribed here in this raptor's nest of memory. -- Cecile Pineda, author of Love Queen of the Amazon, Face, et al
In an age when the goal of creative writing factories is obfuscation, when revelation and honesty are the last and the least qualities emphasized, it is important that we read With The Eyes of a Raptor, by New Mexican poet, E. A. Mares. One great joy of this book is its broad range, from the intellectual and linguistic reversals of Charles Simic: "Imagine a life / where you die of loneliness / but come back to life if three neighbors / stunned by your absence / bring you back because it's a rule / you can't die like that," to the strength and vulnerability of Cesar Vallejo, the great Peruvian poet. Like Vallejo, Mares helps us begin to understand the mysteries of loss, in this case the loss of the poet's daughter. Through Mares' poetry, we become witnesses and partners of suffering, and thus begin to understand what Vallejo called "los golpes de la vida." --Leroy V. Quintana, author of The Great Whirl of Exile, The History of Home and Interrogations, and other works.
Excellent narrative poetry, soul-filled humane stuff. Some in Spanish first, then English. The type of book, once you read it, you want to stand it up on the shelf, let continue its glowing as to what the full range and depth of the human is. Nothing hokey or workshoppy or PC here. Buy this book and regain your quiet rollicking humanity for only diez y seis $. -- R. Kimm, Small Press Review (March 2005)
From Crosswinds Weekly (Albuquerque, April 14, 2005)
With the Eyes of a Raptor is an extensive compilation of the poetry of Albuquerque native, educator and author E. A. "Tony" Mares. Divided into five sections, the book contains a thorough sampling of Mares' work from its inception to the present and traverses topics ranging from the very light to the utmost serious.
The elegies alone in this collection make it a worthy book to pick up in celebration of National Poetry Month. The remaining poems make this collection a must for the contemporary lover of poetry in general and Southwestern poems in particular.
The most easily accessible poems can be found in the final section of the book, titled, "The Discourse of Little Dog and Big Dog." Here, the poems leap along in light-hearted cadence: "Go for a walk, Little Dog? / Namonos, perrito!" And the reader, the poet, and the dogs take an excursion. The other four parts of the collection are neither as sprightly nor as entertaining. Rather, they are intense and thought-provoking.
Section four, "With the Eyes of a Raptor," contains, among other things, penetrating snapshots of Southwestern life. In "On the Eve of War," for example, the reader finds an economical portrait: "A boy with dyed red mohawk ... flirts with girls smelling of rain."
Section three, "In My Violin Dream," combines flights of fantasy with flights of reality. In the poem, "Shadow Geometry," the poet delights in the images of hot air balloons juxtaposed with scientific theory.
The beginning section of the book, titled "In the Taverna Onanas," is a descriptive odyssey that also sets the tone for the elegies in section two. "Moon Over Andros Beach" is a prelude to the poems Mares later consructs in memory of his daughter.
Section two, entitled "There Are Four Wounds, Miguel," contains the most poignant, wrenching poetry of the book. In the preface to this section, Mares quotes and translates Miguel Hernandez's words: "I come with three wounds: The wound of life / the wound of love / the wound of death." The fourth wound, Mares explains, is the wound of silence. He then continues: "... A silence where once there was music ' ... My daughter once walked this land / Now she leaves footprints only in memory." Throughout this section Mares' recreates the journey to reach his daughter's bedside before she dies and, simultaneously, confronts memories of her. The language is evocative, recreating in the reader Mares' dread and sense of loss. It is a loving and touching testimonial by a father to his lost daughter. -- Marjorie Shapiro Stein, reviewer
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Crosswinds Weekly (Albuquerque)April 14, 2005
With the Eyes of a Raptor is an extensive compilation of the poetry of Albuquerque native, educator and author E. A. "Tony" Mares. Divided into five sections, the book contains a thorough sampling of Mares' work from its inception to the present and traverses topics ranging from the very light to the utmost serious.
The elegies alone in this collection make it a worthy book to pick up in celebration of National Poetry Month. The remaining poems make this collection a must for the contemporary lover of poetry in general and Southwestern poems in particular.
The most easily accessible poems can be found in the final section of the book, titled, "The Discourse of Little Dog and Big Dog." Here, the poems leap along in light-hearted cadence: "Go for a walk, Little Dog? / Namonos, perrito!" And the reader, the poet, and the dogs take an excursion. The other four parts of the collection are neither as sprightly nor as entertaining. Rather, they are intense and thought-provoking.
Section four, "With the Eyes of a Raptor," contains, among other things, penetrating snapshots of Southwestern life. In "On the Eve of War," for example, the reader finds an economical portrait: "A boy with dyed red mohawk ... flirts with girls smelling of rain."
Section three, "In My Violin Dream," combines flights of fantasy with flights of reality. In the poem, "Shadow Geometry," the poet delights in the images of hot air balloons juxtaposed with scientific theory.
The beginning section of the book, titled "In the Taverna Onanas," is a descriptive odyssey that also sets the tone for the elegies in section two. "Moon Over Andros Beach" is a prelude to the poems Mares later consructs in memory of his daughter.
Section two, entitled "There Are Four Wounds, Miguel," contains the most poignant, wrenching poetry of the book. In the preface to this section, Mares quotes and translates Miguel Hernandez's words: "I come with three wounds: The wound of life / the wound of love / the wound of death." The fourth wound, Mares explains, is the wound of silence. He then continues: "... A silence where once there was music ' ... My daughter once walked this land / Now she leaves footprints only in memory." Throughout this section Mares' recreates the journey to reach his daughter's bedside before she dies and, simultaneously, confronts memories of her. The language is evocative, recreating in the reader Mares' dread and sense of loss. It is a loving and touching testimonial by a father to his lost daughter.
About This Author
Read more about E. A. Mares HERE.