Comments on: Previewing my new book: Scapegoat’s Cross

By: Rick

Rick — Sat, 17 Jul 2010 17:09:58 +0000

Tom: Thank you for taking the time to read and comment. I appreciate what you said, and it means a lot to me. Hearing from folks like you who’ve felt some benefit from my work encourages me to keep at it, which is, as I’m sure you can understand, not always easy to do. Hopefully the stars will align for me soon so I can get the new book out within the next few months and take this material to more people who will find it helpful.

By: Tom N.

Tom N. — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 19:02:33 +0000

Amazing poems. Thank you for letting me know I’m not the only one. Please, keep up the great work. You are making a difference in this world, Rick. A very much NEEDED difference.

By: Rick

Rick — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 03:18:26 +0000

Hey John, thanks for dropping by, checking things out, and taking the time to comment. Good to know you’re still out there!

By: Twitch (aka John Dolley)

Twitch (aka John Dolley) — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 02:34:05 +0000

Well, what can I say Rick you nutty guy, some are really good, and evoke images; I guess those are the ones that strike me most as the good ones. “Ghosts” sums up your style and intent to get to the bottom of things if there’s no guarantee there’ll be any good apples left by the time you get there.

“One Day” of course is haiku short ‘n sweet, and felt a tear begin to well-up.

Let’s see, trying to remember the memorable ones that impressed me the most, like the gum turning around in the open mouth lines, that was funny; and the one about finding time to write quandary.

Sh*t, I hate blogs for this reason, hard to refer to stuff, there were others and some I thought were too long and lost my attention 2/3rds the way through. The Blindfold boxer in the woods was a good image and sorta’ paraphrases the old trippy adage in a way… the sound of one hand clapping or a tree falling in the forest thing.

I’ve been beating myself up for years, I just think we develop these personality types early on in processing and self-analysis that never seem to change in their methodology for some odd inexplicable reason to me…independence is a good thing too ya’ know!

By: Jack Kammer

Jack Kammer — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 23:59:22 +0000

Dear Rick,

I’ve read scapegoat’s cross. Here’s what it makes me want to say…

grief and loss and never was.
longing.
disappointment, bewilderment.
anger, not quite hot enough for rage.
sadness.
resignation.
fierceness.
thinking, thinking, thinking.
what could have been.
what you wanted.
what you still somehow hope for.
beauty.
acceptance.
connection.
it all makes for powerful poetry.

it makes me really appreciate you.

Thank you.

All best,
Jack

By: Graeme Daniels

Graeme Daniels — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 17:02:19 +0000

It’s been a pleasure to read “Scapegoat’s Cross” having read “Iron Man Family Outing” Two years ago. Rick’s work has enriched my own work with men’s groups in California. In this latest offering, poems such as ‘Broken Birthday 51′ evoke the pain of aging and brokenness, recalling Bly’s thoughts on the meaning of Ashes. Meanwhile, ‘The Past’ and ‘Don’t Talk About It’ bring to mind ongoing, dark themes of Rick’s poetry: it feels long overdue for these thoughts to be unleashed, reminding us that the power of secrets lies not so much in what is known or unknown, but rather in what is talked about. I cherish the vivid line indicating a family’s call to order: eat your stones!
My favorite is ‘Personal Ad’, and for some time I couldn’t figure out why. Initially, I was amused by what is–at least in this collection–a relatively light-hearted parody of an inchoate artifact of dating rituals. Later, as I considered its implicit appeal to go “below the surface”; its references to aloneness, confusion, I began to absorb a wider scope to its rebellion. There’s a broader, anti-pop sensibility here. Imagine advertizing ourselves in our fullest humanity.