This is quite evident in impressive condensations visible in several poems. The poems amply show the vigor of everyday idiom and vocabulary. This is the work of a poet who has found a settled voice. The manuscript is coherent, disciplined, and emotionally persuasive without seeking attention. It values observation over declaration and suggestion over explanation. Those qualities give it durability.Empty BarrelWhen I was a boy
I played with a blue
>I passed time
making up games
drumming, listening
>I remember hollow
thumping most,
gonging sounds
rising from emptiness
>It still does.

Ken Hada lives and writes in the Cross Timbers in Pottawatomie County, Oklahoma. Much of his writing is grounded in the ecology of place, and seeks the rhythms of the natural order. He is the author of nine collections of poetry, including his latest: Contour Feathers (Turning Plow Press, 2021) and Sunlight and Cedar (Vacpoetry 2020). His work has been featured on The Writer's Almanac, and his work has been awarded by SCMLA, The National Western Heritage Museum and The Oklahoma Center for the Book. Information is available at: kenhada.org