Turnings: Lyric Poems Along a Road

Donald R. Fletcher
Outskirts Press (2009)
ISBN 9781432738495
Reviewed by William Phenn for Reader Views (1/10)

 

Donald R. Fletcher begins his story from the time he lived in Korea with his missionary folks.
Flashing back occasionally to reiterate how his parents met and giving a little background on them, he touches on some of the hardships of life in Korea - how they survived the loss of their house to fire and the tragic death of their cousin. She came to visit them and died of cholera.

Donald continues the story of his life with his adventures at Princeton. He tells of shifting from a premed curriculum to a major in English. While away at school, he received a letter from home telling him that the family pet had died. This led him to write a moving poem that impressed me – “On the Death of a Dog.” The sensitivity that that heartfelt poem was written with was a moving experience.

A nice touch to the book was how Donald met his wife Martha. He was on a double date with a friend of his and she was his friend’s date. One thing leads to another and in the end, she becomes his wife. He goes on to explain how he became a Minister of his church, and his desire to be a missionary like his parents. So after a bit of a struggle and more schooling, Donald and his wife shipped out to Barranquilla, Columbia. This was just a stepping stone for their permanent assignment which was Chile. In the time they were there, his wife has three children and a miscarriage. He wrote a poem about that incident that was a very thoughtful piece.

After Chile they go back to New York and Donald becomes Field Coordinator for the Caribbean area missions. Having done that for a while and due to the problems with Castro and the Cuban crisis, they move to Mexico City. From there to Texas and as the years pass and six kids later, they find themselves moving every so often and doing so many diversified things in so many diversified places. As they begin to age, they travel and visit Europe and their adult children and grand children. They have their share of problems and tragedy but all ends well and they settle in New Jersey.

“Turnings: Lyric Poems Along a Road” by Donald R. Fletcher is much more than the usual poetry book. It is a diversified look into the life of a man that has given himself to God and the mission in life that was given to him. With a delightful mix of poetry and prose, it was a welcome change from a stuffy autobiography. I gave it an A and recommend it for all audiences. It would make a good addition to any library.

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