Notes for Lighting a Fire

Light, whether the stark light of a fading parent, the light locked up in coal as a motif for a community and family history, or the spectacular unexpected light of a winter dusk, is a frequent presence in Gerry Cambridge's first collection of poems in nine years. Notes begins and ends with light's variation -- fire: the winter fire in the grate, the fire of the sun at the world's edge. Between thee two poles are poems of desire, possession and memory. Clear-eyed and grave, this is Cambridges' most mature book to date.