Shadows of the Heart

By Larsen Bowker

These poems sing the body’s fierce desire to live forever and the mind’s almost-sacred wonder that it was ever here at all. But free of what Whitman called the fear of knowing, they can hear the hum of time’s seamless disappearance, riding the spinning tendrils of the mystery of silence that, like brief flowering seasons on high mountain meadows, try to make less seem more, for “surely there are men who’ve made their art out of no tragic war, lovers of life, impulsive men who look for happiness and sing when they’ve found it.” They search for covenants of faith without borders, gods without omniscience, and unbloody sacraments that seek protection from nature’s deadly indifference.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Jun 26, 2019
• ISBN: 9781728311630

Larsen Bowker

These are poems of a storyteller, his tone largely elegiac as he probes for balance in the thought/action and faith/doubt systems that give meaning to his life, searching as he says, “for the whole person I’ve always wanted to be.” In memories always threatening to become a vision, he searches for that sense of self etched on his soul by his Mother’s ‘love affair with words”, and his Father’s belief that “words are never as important as they seem to be. One critic suggests “reading his poems makes you feel as if you’re walking in radiant grace of afternoon light in autumn.” They are thought-inspired poems seeking to reclaim that slow drama and deeper texture of life lived before the 24 hour news cycles in their endless drone of words that work mightily to take the individual voice from our lives. This poet grew up in the part of Nebraska that has more limestone hills, rivers and trees than flat farmland, place his Mother made into Arcadian Myth and legend, initiating mystery into slow daily lives lived within their commitment to work, family and friends, lives lived celebrating the self as well as affirmation of others, helping to shape the character without rules. Another critic writing of poems in this author’s book “Flowers from a Deeper Soil”, called them “elegies from an unsung Master: honest, elemental and durable.” And another called them “’word journeys seeking to renew our Faith in a life greater than our immediate experience of it.”

Book preview

THOUGHTS from READERS WHO’VE READ

SHADOWS OF THE HEART

In Shadows of the Heart, Larsen Bowker invites us into a poetic experience of mystery and search for meaning beyond the contradictions of body and mind, faith and reason, and nature and civilization. He pens colorful descriptions of personalities, vivid images of nature, and moving stories of fellow human beings as they encounter the limits of the human condition. The poems address perennial themes of life, death, faith, and loss with more questions than answers, showing that it is the questions of life that give meaning more than elusive answers. Avoiding both didacticism and cynicism, he stimulates the reader to reflect on the faith and values that drive and sustain us. His language is intense and his combinations of words are refreshingly original. I am moved by the poet’s weaving of innumerable natural phenomena such as gulls and waves, rivers and stones, flowers and moss, sun and moon, prairie grass and weeds into metaphors that elevate his poetic scenes and stories into deeply moving art. Too much modern poetry does not resonate beyond the page. These poems offer myth journeys renewing our faith that life is greater than our immediate experience of it. In a voice as contemporary as it is ancient, they search for our deepest and most enduring selves.

-WILLIAM HENDRIKS, MD (retired)

Blacksburg, Virginia

As a behavioral scientist, I was surprised and delighted when an old friend, Larsen Bowker, asked me to write a blurb for his newest book of poems. I got hooked on written expression far different than I am used to in my daily reading of research-based scholarship. I had to stop, reflect, and appreciate a vastly different perception of the people and environmental settings we contact every day. Indeed, these poems reminded me that I travel daily life with a different mindset and thereby miss various inventive thoughts and images not typically harmonious with scientific analysis.

Experiencing stimulating music and artwork takes minimal time and effort, but that’s not the case when reading Shadows of the Heart— at least for me. I sometimes spent more than 30 minutes on just one poem, reading and re-reading to envision the poet’s meanings. I challenge readers to take the time to experience Bowker’s exceptional and inspirational positivity with regard to the physical, psychological and moral enigmas experienced by the characters of each poem as a function of being human in the 21st century.

-E.SCOTT GELLER, Ph.D

Alumni Distinguished Professor

Virginia Tech

I’ve known Larsen Bowker for thirty years, known him primarily as a successful Coach, who also taught writing and published poetry. But I’ve known him best as a trusted friend and a kindred spirit. Sometimes a man needs to be reminded of his place in the universe, like lying on green grass and looking at the sky without commentary. Other times, we resume our quest for taking responsibility for ourselves and our mentees in an effort to improve and make a difference. Rarely we able to do both well. Larsen Bowker has the ability to look inside and out and not get lost. My favorite poem in the collection is Christmas Bicycle. May God Bless him as God’s Blessed us with him.

-MIKE GENTRY

former Head Weight and Conditioning Coach

Virginia Tech Football

I thank Larsen Bowker for sharing his journey in SHADOWS OF THE HEART. They make me to stop often to ponder, reread, savor and wait—for meaning that led him to employ vivid images, sense and leavings of the lingering awe that give shape, rhythm and perspective to universal memories.

-YLENE LARSEN, MD (Retired)

Washington DC

In SHADOWS OF THE HEART, Larsen Bowker’s poems are aiming right at the heart of your soul. They touch it with a beauty that comes from the search for faith and love in life. His choice of words makes them feel important, their rhythm a song, as if we could transpose Keith Jarret’s vision of Jazz into poetry, telling us the best poetry is in the space between the words. He is the ‘Night Writer’ who teaches us about life, about himself and those he loves, perhaps doing just what poetry asks of him.

-PAUL BASTARD, MD-Phd Student

Paris, France

What a lovely collection of poems! The poet has led a rich life, full of people and places where birds and rivers with their seasonal leaves, invite the reader into their flow of meaning and emotion, feeling them grow more important to him as he gets older. The poems span a lifetime, showing us how they’ve shaped the course of his life. Beautifully specific in their details, they are deeply evocative of larger sentiments, but always, clearly based in his profound affection for the poem’s subject, whether that be human or geographic. They are crafted with a very gentle and loving touch. I found particularly powerful the poet’s descriptions of the natural world…vast farm fields bleached of color, mountainsides whose changing light and color that fascinate and beguile mind and heart…birdsong, snow and sun add depth to his life I had never imagined, like The Weed and the Metaphor. I had never imagined the pulling of weeds as anything beyond a mundane gardening chore until I read this poem suggesting how we could think differently about it in our disrespect for tenacity without pedigree. That image will stay with me for a long time. I look forward to many more re-readings of that poem, and many others in this wonderful collection.

-FELICE PROCTOR

Professor of Theater Arts (retired)

Virginia Tech University

It was hard to read this book without losing myself in contemplating the emotions, spiritual tones and lessons in each poem. Larsen’s writing is incredibly engaging to the senses and with little effort lulls one into a pleasant trance. The melding of aspects of nature, time and humanity uniquely highlights how life, whether at its rarest or most mundane, pleasant or unpleasant, is worth the pause.

-LUIS CAMARA

student of Literary and Digital Arts

born and raised in Lisbon, Portugal

I have known this poet for forty years and have always been aware of his love of words, putting them together to create something greater than the sum of the parts. This love for words shines through the poems, as he turns words into kindred spirits. I feel Larsen’s activity, intensity, and vitality as I read these poems. He takes human experiences and transforms them into words on a page connecting me to experiences that lead me to search,for, more … more … more.

-MIKE TIELEMAN

A wanderer trying to find his way. I have have no answers…only a desire to ask a good question or two along the way.

College Teacher… Minneapolis, Minnesota

Reading this collection reminds me of the hours of engaging conversation I was fortunate to have with Larsen. Larsen’s poetry echoes his daily thoughts, which were abundant and willingly shared. He strives to extract timeless meaning through logic, while also appreciating the simple natural beauty that requires no contemplation. We are blessed to share his