OTHER BOOKS
Allegro To Life
From 1959 when I wrote my first poem to today, my world view has evolved as I, as do we all, try to grasp the impact of humanity as it buoys or extinguishes individuals and our spaceship planet Earth. I date and identify where I wrote some of my poems to provide readers with points of reference. My approach to poetry is ever evolving but two central principle still guide me: less is almost always more, and, I try to use words and grammar my west Texas mother could understand. Li Po is my hero.
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Swans to Carry Me
The poet has an excellent ear for rhythm and cadence. After reading all these poems we have a feeling that the style of the poet is precise and elegant. At its best these poems have been composed in a plain and matter-of-fact style. The language of these poems is full of simplicity and directness.
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Wind in the Elephant Tree
The book title, Wind in the Elephant Tree, traces to a time when, at age 20, I rough-necked my way through wilderness deserts of Mexico with several friends. I came to realize that although I was strong, reasonably good-looking and becoming well educated, I could perish in the desert and no one would care except ants, vultures and maybe my younger sister. The realization that neither I, nor anyone else, is the center of the universe has never faded.
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Book Reviews
Reviews – Allegro To Life
Lenora G.
5.0 out of 5 stars Symphony of poetry
Reviewed in the United States on February 3, 2022
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This musical tribute of poetry is a symphony of words in three movements, Songs from My Life, Poems From Guatemala, and Desert Songs. De Berge starts us off with Poetry Begins,
“The art of poetry begins
in the seam where
the grammar of
communication flowers.”
In Ancient Stevedore we read about a tired old man, who is still working at loading and unloading ships at the dock. A young man’s job, but it is a job, and he is prideful, and tired. De Berge also asks some philosophical questions such as, “Where did time come from…where is it going?” in Spinning in Emptiness.
Mr. de Berge has some stunning lines throughout his book. “The stone eyelid of time blinks at nothing.” And a few pages further he wakes “…oneself from nightmares, who hired such strange actors?”
He defines love in
Love Is, and I read a perfect definition. He writes about what he sees—quaking aspen, cactus, dreams, rabbits, birds, donkeys. Each a story of its own. Many stories have happy endings,
On the Death of a Mexican Boy will bring the same “emotional flood of fear, anger / and sorrow” to you as to him when as a youngster he came upon death by the road.
There is a judicious use of photographs in this book. The one of the mother and child that introduce the second movement, Poems From Guatemala makes me smile back at them. We go from Green Onions to Touch and learn “…why old folks die, / after a mate’s passing: / lonely skin cannot survive / the silence that lingers / in the lack of touch. / It is an ache that grips the heart / too hard.” We are taken from hardship to hope, where A Teacher Near Chajul says, “…newly paved / road to her village means better teachers / may come to…her daughters… The apples taste sweeter.”
The people have been through long hardships of war, draught, starvation, and yet they smile (de Berge shares the photos to prove that) and have hope, and de Berge shares their hurt and their hope in these poems. The last line of the last poem in this section speaks loud to me. It is a line that needs to be placed on billboards throughout the countries of the world. It is a line politicians need not just to learn, but to have engraved on their hearts and in their brains. “Genocide is the mother of the next war.” From Cesspool Brain.
The third and final movement of our symphony is Desert Songs. These poems will make you homesick for the desert, even if you’ve never been to one. And when you go, I hope you are rained on so you will know the Desert After Rain, “…flowering palo verde trees geyser / above cactus spines and creosote bush.” I hope you camp and are blessed with a Rabbit in Camp and can sit, be still, and observe him when “sated, he lies down…just an odd / shaped stone a hawk might overlook.”
I thought, surely, his penultimate poem, The Finality of It, would be the end of the book, but no, he tells of killing a rabbit to eat, and the “Translucent, lifeless black agates / looking back at me in despair, / a well of infinity and irrevocable death!” even though it is a beautiful poem this reviewer is grateful he chose, instead, to end with Candles and, “Candlelight brushes all it touches / with a peaceful golden voice.”
This book has been touched by the golden voice of candlelight. Even his sad poems though sad, are neither maudlin, nor sentimental, but painted with that golden voice. This is a book you will want to read several times. The first time straight through so you won’t miss anything, and after that, either by random opening or deliberate choosing.
About the Reviewer
Lenora Rain-Lee Good recently returned to her beloved Pacific Northwest from Albuquerque, New Mexico to dance in the rain and write. Part Native American (Catawba) she is fascinated with history, and often incorporates historical events in her writing. Her poetry has most recently appeared in Quill & Parchment and Five Willows Literary Review, both online literary magazines. Washington 129, anthology of Washington State Poetry, chosen by Tod Marshall, the Washington State Poet Laureate, 2016-2018 and her collection, Blood on the Ground: Elegies for Waiilatpu published by Redbat Press. She has been an Author-Editor in the aerospace industry, and an Instructor in the WAC. Besides writing and selling her poetry, she has sold novels, radio plays, photographs, and even a quilt. However, she’s joking about dancing in the rain. One, she doesn’t dance, and two, she lives in the desert part of Washington.
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Fred J Zambroski
5.0 out of 5 stars A Must Read
Reviewed in the United States on December 30, 2022
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Mark Winheld
5.0 out of 5 stars Poetry that honors humanity and nature
Reviewed in the United States on February 12, 2022
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Poetry that honors humanity and nature
Full disclosure: As a lifelong friend of Earl, I could be accused of unobjective positive bias. But AS a friend–a partner in adventure–I saw much of what he saw, and I can affirm that his observations are dead-accurate.
His economy of words–reminiscent of Asian and Native American poetry–thrusts the reader directly into the subject, whether it be the blessing of rain on a thirsty desert cactus or the grief of a soul destroyed by Guatemala’s Civil War. Earl’s uncluttered directness embodies what Thomas Merton, author of the spiritual classic “The Seven Story Mountain,” said of his artist father:
PJ Erickson
5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful poetry — heartfelt, funny, sad, biting — worth savoring
Reviewed in the United States on January 26, 2022
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I received my first two copies of Allegro to Life today. I hardly know where to begin. I can only say that my encouragement to you would have been far more intense had I seen more of these writings earlier. Your gift is far greater than I thought or imagined — and my imagining was considerable.
Review by Mark D. Walker
I met the author and his wife, Suzanne, several years ago over lunch in Phoenix discussing fundraising strategies for an NGO they set up in Guatemala, “Seeds for a Future,” which provides training to impoverished rural women in and around Chocolá on the South coast, to improve family access to food and nutrition. I soon learned that we not only shared a love and appreciation of Guatemala and the Desert Southwest, but that Earl was also a writer and, in his case, a poet as well.
I was surprised to learn that he started writing as far back as 1959 and is publishing this spring an autographical novel laced with poetry and photos about his adventures as a young man in the Sonoran deserts of Baja California, Mexico, and Arizona, A Finger of Land On An Old Man’s Hand. As a high school senior, he came across one of the best Chinese poets, Li Po, noted for his elegant romantic verse, which was what the author felt drawn to express to some of the various women in his life at the time. He was soon writing about nature, environment, cities, social issues, and his imagination was fueled by his travels through Central America, the Sonoran Desert, and the Andes. “Everything I experience has potential for a poem—even the increasingly dreadful business of politics.”
In this book, his poems are divided into “Songs from my Life,” “Poems from Guatemala,” and “Desert Songs.” Anyone who lives in the desert appreciates the rare times it rains, which is why “Desert After Rain” struck my fancy:
Drained ivory clouds drift flat-bottomed/above valleys strewn in yellow froth/ where flowering palo verde trees geyser/ above cactus spines and creosote brush…
Colossal mesquites whisper ancient tales/ fall silent contemplating their love of rain. / All pause before resuming tasks of survival. / A silver dove decants its mournful song.
With a vivid description of the desert in “Subtle Greens:”
My mind is calmed by desert’s pastel tan and green colors/capped by a pale blue sky…”
I fancy cacti as fortified castles/ lush with wild displays of flower and fruit/as nature has had fun with shapes/and splashes of color.
From the Desert Southwest, the author transports us to the unique, ever moist environs of the rain forest in Guatemala with “Chipi-Chipi:”
It is raining/in the way of mist, / just heavy enough/to cling to plants/…too light to dimple the lake…
Chipi-Chipi is the name/Tzutujil speakers/ give to mist rain/ that neither/ starts nor stops/ yet accumulates/like dew/ to drip gently from/ palm fronds. / One senses eternity.
The author and his wife split their time between Guatemala and Arizona and have owned homes on Lake Atitlan, but eventually were drawn to Antigua, so I wasn’t surprised to find this enchanting tale of life in the Central Plaza in “Blind in Antigua:”
Girdled by ancient Spanish buildings, / their silent arches like eyes gazing with/ stern conqueror authority into Antigua’s, / graceful central park where modern folks/ now stroll, dally, and relax beneath gnarled jacaranda trees in full lavender flower…
In slow waltz, the calm mix of humanity stir/ in social mingling, a seamless stream that eddies, / and pauses on benches where lovers giggle/ and women chat in clusters, their hands waving/ “oh really!” as they rock back laughing in/ the glow of fresh neighborhood chin-wagging…
A man sits with sad slumped shoulders. / one foot raised on the shoeshine boy’s box/ as he reads of war and butchery in the world. / Worried only about future family meals.
The author deftly takes us from the enchanting world of Guatemala to its troubled, violent past in “Cesspool Brain:”
Imagine, /if you can, the cesspool brain/ of the Guatemalan army colonel/ who ordered the murder/ of hundreds of indigenous/ civilians and their burial/ in his army’s latrine pits.
Imagine again/ if you can, / him walking away. /Whistling of a job well done. / Time will fade victim’s names/ and the pain of personal loss/ but the Maya have not forgotten the / meaning of their agony. / Genocide is the mother of the next war.
The author uses plain language “my Texas mother can understand.” He uses metaphors and rhyming sparingly. No matter where the poem takes place, it is underscored with a clear idea, image, and emotion, which paints a picture that will set the reader adrift on their journey.
About the Reviewer
Mark Walker was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Guatemala and spent over forty years helping disadvantaged people in the developing world. He’s worked with other groups like Make-A-Wish International and was the CEO of Hagar USA.
His book, Different Latitudes: My Life in the Peace Corps and Beyond, was recognized by the Arizona Literary Association for Non-Fiction and, according to the Midwest Review, “…is more than just another travel memoir. It is an engaged and engaging story of one man’s physical and spiritual journey of self-discovery.”
Several of his articles have been published in Ragazine and WorldView Magazines, Literary Yard, Scarlet Leaf Review, and Quail BELL, while another was recognized by the “Solas Literary Award for Best Travel Writing.” Two of his essays were winners at the Arizona Authors Association Literary Competition and another was recently published in Eland Press’s newsletter. He’s a contributing writer for “Revue Magazine” and the “Literary Traveler.” He has a column in the Arizona Authors Association newsletter, “The Million Mile Walker Review: What We’re Reading and Why.”
His honors include the “Service Above Self” award from Rotary International. He’s a board member of “Advance Guatemala.” His wife and three children were born in Guatemala. You can learn more at www.MillionMileWalker.com and follow him on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/millionmilewalker/
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Reviews – Swans to Carry Me
Reviewed by LB Sedlacek
A celebration of life, so to speak, awaits in this new collection from Earl Vincent de Berge. The two sections in this spectacular presentation of thoughts and ideas and the author’s real-life experiences are taken from his own reflections and from his personal journeys.
He uses some of his photos and what he terms “photo abstractions” throughout the book. These add to flavor each work on which they share the same page.
The author states that his book “presents some of my reflections on environment, society, aging, religion, time and peace of mind” and there’s a “focus is on the animal world which has enriched my life for eight decades.” It is a delightful compilation indeed to see an author present their works as they have lived in them or lived through them.
Reviews – Wind in the Elephant Tree
Reviewed by LB Sedlacek
“Wind in the Elephant Tree” could be seen somewhat as a poem novel what with its combination of poetry, prose and photos all combined into a literary adventure of sorts of the author. The book weaves a captivating narrative that combines elements of coming-of-age and experiences and revelations to transport the reader into de Berge’s world.
The author creates a unique consciousness to render thought provoking verses, stories and text. His own encounter with an elephant tree sets the spark for his discoveries and serves as the inspiration behind the book. The author states “The book title, Wind in the Elephant Tree, traces a time when, at age 20, I rough-necked my way through wilderness deserts of Mexico with several friends. I came to realize that although I was strong, reasonably good-looking and becoming well educated, I could perish in the desert and no one would care except ants, vultures and maybe my younger sister. The realization that neither I, nor anyone else, is the center of the universe has never faded.”
