Ritual Enactments

About the Book

TRASH BURNINGS

The subject: forgotten rituals,

how in shirtsleeves

I carried the kitchen trash through brittle snow

and lit it,

expectant,

knowing the cold’s first shudder

would shrink my crotch

and start intestinal spasms,

how then the wait for crumbled cinders to darken

would suggest shapes

outside the circle of fire

and I must run for the doorway

or lose to wolves.

About the Author

Mr. Carlson has been writing poetry for 50 years.  His aim has been to create poems in which emotions are honest, descriptions accurate, images evocative, and language accessible.  Some of his poems are long and dense; others short and spare.  They are by turns powerful and delicate, thought provoking and playful, solemn and funny.  Sharing his experiences, observations, and thoughts as a son, student, brother, lover, father and friend will call up your own experiences, observations and thoughts.  Written aloud, they should be read aloud to be fully enjoyed.  The words are to be felt on the tongue.

Born the son of missionaries in Sierra Leone, West Africa, Mr. Carlson currently lives with his wife and dog in Alexandria, Virginia.  He has lived previously in Indiana, California, Oregon, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Colorado and Utah.  He is a retired federal official who has also worked at the state and local level.  He  has degrees from Wabash College and Yale University.