The Green of Sunset on Thursday

“I mourn for things before they’ve gone.” — John Brantingham

Believing in fate is a foundational part of my life, so when I was perusing my list of books to indulge in next, something called me to John Brantingham’s The Green of Sunset. For starters, I think it was the title. I hear sunsets get called everything but green, and this had me seeking out the elements of a sunset often unseen, like reading between the rays of a departing sun, and that’s something I needed this week. If my father wasn’t in so much pain I would have read every poem in this book aloud to him. It would have kept him as company as it kept me on the oversimplified patio of the hospital that’s now become my family’s haunting home. John Brantingham masterfully puts together such an intimate and important journey I feel every man should take. There is such a perfect balance of accountability and ownership throughout this book that makes you feel as though you are growing with the speaker as each poem progresses. It possesses such a beautiful reflection on the truths of manhood and masculinity under new lights, and how significant it is to recognize the power of shifting perspectives and of loving others in spite of the walls our judgments build. On top of all this, the level of concrete imagery literally transports you and for a brief moment, you are right there, watching that butterfly in Kansas call to destruction with its wings, or falling on that L.A. overpass, or walking the grounds at Sequoia National Park. There are books I cling to on their last poem and this was one of those. I’ve even bookmarked a few pieces I hope to be able to get the chance to share with my father soon enough, if fate wills us. In the meantime, for everyone eager to escape, even for just minutes in poetry, look no further because this is the collection for you. Get your copy at www.moontidepress.com/books and take a quick getaway with someone you love!