Plumb Line: Poems

(Paperback)

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More than ten years in the making, this volume of 87 new poems by Steve Luttrell, former poet laureate of Portland, Maine, conjures the beauty of the New England Coast and the enduring power of nature. In sparse, accessible verse, the poet evokes the wild Maine landscape--the rocks and wildlife, the shifting planets, and the surging waters--at the same time that he casts an observant eye on his fellow creatures. He deftly melds the eternal and the transitory, the extraordinary and the routine in lines such as, "the light of long/dead stars/and the dogs/sleeping/under the bed." He imbues the small routines of daily life with quiet significance and casts the enormity of the cosmos to human scale. Luttrell is the founder and publishing editor of the acclaimed Cafe Review, which has published for a remarkable 25 years and printed the work of twelve Pulitzer Prize winners. He hosts his own TV Show (Poet's Cafe), and runs the historical Portland Club, which has given him a strong presence in the region and a large following among New England poets and writers. His intimate, unassuming voice is driven by a musician's sense of rhythm and a deceptive simplicity- "and the ships/at anchor/an emblem of/waiting/but March/is a time/of endurance/and the channel/waters deep/so waiting is/what we will do/knowing/there can be no/other way." The author has published five chapbooks and six major editions of poetry, includingHome Movies, Conditions, The Vagaries- A Winter's Sequence,andPermaquid and Other Poems.Plumb Linesecures Luttell's place as an important voice in contemporary poetry.

Reviews

These delicate, companionable poems are like warm blankets on cold winter nights: they are haunted by the words gone, memory, silence, yet, at the same time, they celebrate the wondrous satisfactions of the living moment, however transient. Luttrells poems are brief, spare, barely there, yet watch them come alive in meditations lamplight.
Jack Foley

Steve Luttrells beautifully wrought poems fall on to the page and into the eye and ear with an absolute measure of a plumb line. Luttrell beckons the reader, whos always got to try hard, to pursue the subtly accomplished depth and breadth of this moving new collection.
George Economou

Steve Luttrells Plumb Line traces, with verse, the moments that came, were spelled out, then departed, leaving a poem. I can recommend this book of love, leisure, travel, the seasons, the value of dogs, surrender to the seasons, and its pithy, wide-souled poesy.
Ed Sanders

"These poems are exquisitely crafted.In their concision they celebrate what draws us most keenly to the art of poetry. This isa book to be read and treasured for its lyrical grace and commitment to deeply held emotions. Steve Luttrell tailors life down to essential and luminous moments that celebrate our humanity."
Neeli Cherkovski

"Quiet plumb line precision here, as days and lives are measured against certainty, the sure and final end that awaits us all... "
James Koller

Steve Luttrells new book, Plumb Line, is aptly named. The resonance of finding the depths in ordinary experience, foregrounding it so we see (and hear) is the art of a serious poet. Highly recommended.
David Gitin

Author Bio

Founder and editing publisher of The Cafe Review, STEVE LUTTRELL has been named Poet Laureate of Portland, Maine. He is a graduate of Franklin Pierce College and is the author of ten books of poetry.