Late Autumn, Raking

- Rhina P. Espaillat, The Field

My favorite aspect of Don Kimball's lyrical, whimsical, and philosophical poems is the many turns of phrase that delight the reader. He describes a raindrop as "a diamond stud on a green leaf." He's also a master of witty personification. "The moon's full of herself." He says "my brain abandoned my right arm" during a transient ischemic attack. He complains that "Sleep stays up for the late-night shows."

The restaurant waiter who "stops at your table" when it's "time to settle" doesn't "take checks. No credit cards accepted". He turns out to be a chilling metaphor for Death, which follows life's rich meal. Or take "Mirror, Mirror," it's not until the last line that we learn what a man really sees reflected in the mirror: "my vis-?-vis / opposite me, // seeing eye / to eye; // complementary / she and I." It's Kimball's surprises that are his finest gift.

- Deborah Warren, Strange to Say: Etymology as Serious Entertainment

Don Kimball focuses on writing of his world and what he knows well, and brings to this a sensitivity and craft that turns experience into poetry. Much of Late Autumn, Raking deals with the small things in life - the title poem itself; a stone skipped across a pond; the death of a barn ("both ends leaning inward/like folding hands/collapsing") - but in a language so pared down that its poetry emerges from what is not said as much as what remains. In another notable poem, "Tall Woman Walking Past a Busker," precise language and subtle off-rhymes weave a story of real depth in less than twenty words. Kimball is an entertaining storyteller with an ear attuned to power of each word.

- Michael Cantor, Furusato