From One Child To Another
Poems by Daniel Kolos
Published by George A.
Vanderburgh
The Battered Silicon Dispatch
Box TM
LON 1SO
An 84 page book of poetry
Cover design by Rhonda Iadinardi, Rocks, Paper ‘n Scissors
Reviewed by Katherine L.
Gordon,
Author, editor, publisher,
literary reviewer,
Resident
Columnist for Ancient Heart Magazine,
The warmth of this beguiling
book is exemplified by the fetching cover:
Daniel Kolos’
rich-with-experience smile, his young son fresh, eager and happy in the
exchange. They have much to share, one
to learn and one to re-learn, as Daniel has obviously done, the joyous beauty
inherent in every experience.
From One Child To Another
conjures the bright-eyed wonder we used to greet the world with. It is very near the surface in many a guarded moment.
The style and language are
richly varied and satisfying, as are the subjects,
ranging
from luscious fruit to quixotic Faludy.
The four parts of the book
address the growing into experience, the appreciation for great friends and
mentors who shape us, emotions both fierce and frivolous that play with all of
us: “love leads our hearts to leap over logic.”
That Daniel can draw joy and
humorous acceptance of the tensest times in every life, is a tribute to his
warm and wise nature. The reader will fall in love
with his eclectic friendships, great icons of literature, who actually paved
his path. They are equally flawed and wonderful. Daniel exposes them with all their human failings and
glories so that we come to love them as did Daniel: “so that their illusions
could unravel.”
Daniel Kolos is an
Egyptologist, an exciting background for a poet. The
link from ancient art and literature to the symbols of the present is significantly
drawn: “The ancient Egyptians wrote
letters to their dead,” versified so poignantly in his letter to Gwendolyn
MacEwen.
You can intuit that Daniel’s
insight is multi-dimensional on the Mother Earth he reveres: “Those shadows
seemed to shimmer/then took shape and I saw angels, faeries
and devas dance on the front lawn.”
Good Girl, Bad Boys! And Mating Dance, cleverly placed side by side, are
examples of foolish human cultural restraints and baseless judgementalism,
while animals cavort in natural, appointed delight of bodies and fertility—the
raison d’etre of the world. They
provoke much thought on the contrived conditions of so much of society,
bringing to mind Dylan Thomas’ Ode to a Faun.
As Daniel teaches us: “a soft bed and bad habits are no match for Nature:
the winter sunrise wins.” And “where sacredness oozes from
the earth.” A firm grounding in
reverence for nature and warm respect for his peers are assets to this fine
poet.
Daniel’s poem Immigrant is
also part of his experience. Wherever we come from we
can appreciate the spirit and body nurture of compassionate
There is a naughty side,
delightfully human, to be found in this One Child To Another exposition: Venerable Bede, Corridors of Power, I Thot. There is as well a sincere understanding of
frailty and brevity that still enhance our education in this life.
The lesson in this
wonderfully warm little book is: “as for my mind, I carry it with me as a
playmate.” Lines to
remember for all our days and nights.
Katherine L. Gordon,
Playful April, 2007.