American Twilight

What are the common bonds that hold together the wide and varied interests of the American people? In Minneapolis based writer Cray McCally's poetic exploration of life in America during these stressful times, American Twilight, themes of family, friendship, and community act to highlight the range of connection most Americans believe in regardless of political affiliation. Building on a love of travel, music, food, and sports; McCally's poems look at the effect of the cultural and social influences that the individual navigates in America today. Grounded in an appreciation for both the urban and rural settings of America, American Twilight speaks to both the similarities and differences found in the various spectrums of American daily life. Playing on the duality of the metaphor behind the collection's title, American Twilight serves as a series of reflections and musings on both the beauty of America at twilight, and the fear that America may be slipping into its own twilight as a country. Within a range of poetic influences from Walt Whitman and William Carlos Williams to Hilda Doolittle and Patti Smith, McCally's poems are charged with an open hearted optimism that finds them firmly a part of the American Romantic tradition of writing.