Still in Soil: A Collection of New Poems

Kyle Torke
World Audience (2006)
ISBN 1934209171
Reviewed by Debra Gaynor for Reader Views (1/07)

“Still in Soil” by Kyle Torke shares some of his deepest feelings.  He speaks of a camping trip where during the early morning hours he sees an elk.  He is caught between the desire to share the beautiful sight with his sons or let them sleep bundled protectively in their sleeping bags.

Kyle’s poems are poignant.  He refuses to allow his readers to forget that we are aging.  He reminds us that we should cherish memories.  There are times when we believe there are no tomorrows.  But we should grasp each day and wring as many memories from it as possible.

I particularly enjoyed “Ride.”  The author recognizes that our children won’t always be there with us.  Like the plane, someday they will fly off for new adventures and we will be crying “come back.”

“I took my sons to the soccer fields to fly airplanes,
tethered to us with radio signals, and early I felt
how like the planes were my sons:  as capable
of flight as broken wings.  The field seemed large
enough, and if the wind felt strong, we felt stronger.
We failed at first flight, but the second, a read bird
With yellow markings, warbled and wafted and took
Wing.  She circled for a moment, as if examining
Us, such paltry creatures in a next clearly outgrown,
And headed away, over the houses, over the trees,
Grateful for the push, but even more grateful
For the current of wind and the sudden rush of blue
Sky that separated us, who ran after and yelled
“Come back!” as the plane nodded adieu and dipped
below the roofs and toward and streets and vanished.”

“I Sing John Denver” touched my heart.  I too am a John Denver fan and I’ve sung his songs to my children many times.  John will live on through his music.  I believe he would have enjoyed knowing Kyle wrote a poem about him.

“Still In Soil” by Kyle Torke is a delightful book of poems.  I found myself reading one after another, unable to put the book down.  I would ponder each poem for meaning and go back and reread a phrase here and there.  Torke is extremely talented.  He reaches into the life of man, pulls out the precious memories and places them on paper to remind man to cherish each one.  I highly recommend this book to those that enjoy good poetry.

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