Landscapes of Light: Poems

"LANDSCAPES OF LIGHT is a voyage of discovery. Citing song and dance, with wit and imagination, B. E. Kahn relives for us a spiritual journey through the ancient world, following the light, in this case, eastward, from Greece to Jerusalem. In perceptive, life-affirming poems, she links Greek, Jew, Arab, glad for all of us that 'the folk keep dancing.'"--Elaine Terranova, Author of NOT TO: NEW AND SELECTED POEMS and winner of the 1990 Walt Whitman Award "L' chayim! That's 'To Life!' in the Yiddish, which is said as a toast. And B. E. Kahn's hymn chapbook in memory of her mother Chana, SPRING APPLES SILVER BIRCH, is a book that fulfills its task. In Kahn's words: 'my task--remembering--your precious flame of life.' Her new chapbook LANDSCAPES OF LIGHT carries that task onward in fresh poems about Greece and Israel. To Life! To Light!"--Henry Braun, Author of LOYALTY: NEW AND SELECTED POEMS "In this, her latest collection of poems based on trips to Greece and Israel, B. E. Kahn has carefully honed her craft. The poems draw the reader into the text for she is always alive to the moment. Yet, in a voice that is consistently lyric and nuanced, she also looks to the future. In 'Serafos' she wonders: 'Could I live here? Would my laughter/sing in the white houses,//through painted blue doors,/seep into pots of geranium?' And she continues her quest in 'Photo Taken on the Isle of Sifnos' in which she's asked 'What next? What next?' We hope that B. E. Kahn will provide answers to these questions with forthcoming poems and we look forward to seeing more of her work."--Shulamith Wechter Caine, Author of LOVE FUGUE