Bird on a Wire

In his twelfth full-length poetry collection, popular elder poet David Chorlton presents us with thirty-one new poems that reflect the natural and human aspects of the world in a birds eye. His keen observational sensitivities are everywhere apparent in these poems. In imagery gleaned primarily from the Southwestern region, Chorlton presents us with a naturalistic morality. Although his diction leans to the lean-side, his sense of musicality is sonorous and melodic. Chorlton was born in England and traveled extensively throughout Northern Europe in his youth. Marriage brought him to Arizona, where he has embraced the wildlife, geography and people of that region. A subtle level of social criticism winds its way through these poems. Chorlton often juxtapositions natural images with cultural images. The symbol of a bird on a wire aptly represents his poetic persona, which is in the vein of a Gary Snyder or W S Merwin.