The Pavese Stone - by Judith Vollmer (Paperback)

About the Book

"These poems delve into the connection between the physical and spiritual worlds, bringing them together in close, entwined, inseparable conversation. Here there is resilience, elegy, longing, desire for expansion, close and keen observation, dignity. Attention is paid to the physical connections we make with others and our environment and how these connections bring us closer to the feeling of being alive and living. At the outset, Vollmer writes, "I see places expand, / but need more focus," and the poems propel forth traveling across countrysides interior and exterior. Near the end, we embrace and celebrate the ceremony of even what we might consider to be unceremonious life, as in "here is a ring I would slide onto your finger, / a plain thread.""-- Provided by publisher.

Book Synopsis

Inspired by the legacy of Cesare Pavese, Judith Vollmer's The Pavese Stone unfolds across the Italian countryside and burrows deep into the interior landscapes of memory, mortality, and connection. This is a vivid, haunting, and intimate meditation on the porous boundary between life and death, the longing for communion, the brutality of reality, and the quiet grace that resides within it.

In these pages, fortitude, elegy, and quiet dignity are interwoven with a profound desire for expansion. Vollmer's poems offer a sharp attentiveness to the textures of daily life, remaining firmly grounded in the physical world even as the speaker questions the soul's place within it. This is a book of deep listening and keen observation, where even the smallest gesture--such as severing the leather cords of a tethered owl--becomes an act of radical grace. The Pavese Stone reminds us of the power in meeting another's gaze and truly witnessing.

Near the end, Vollmer invites the reader to embrace and celebrate the ceremony of what one might even consider an unceremonious life: "Here is a ring I would slide onto your finger, / a plain thread." The poems of The Pavese Stone find their beauty in the ordinary, elevating moments of stillness and loss into sacred space.

Review Quotes

"The poet shows how we wear our loneliness with care, even a beautiful resilience, until the day a soft hand of curious innocence touches us, leading us to put away the things that have made themselves our fears about love. The light fills the empty, tattered sketched in Vollmer's latest work. These are poems that bring the global nature of who we are into a time when fantasies of pure being flood into our spaces. Inspired by Cesare Pavese, Vollmer reminds us of the complex beauty of our souls, how love takes root in every detail of who we are, despite the real dangers of war and conflict. This is quintessential work by one of our finest poets."
--Afaa M. Weaver, author of A Fire in the Hills