In a Dark Time … The Eye Begins to See

My recent literary spiritual journey beginning with New England’s Emily Dickinson and ending with Japan’s Buson, led me to some relatively unknown places, but none less familiar than Robert Lax’s book of poetry entitled Love Had a Compass: Journals and Poetry. I first encountered Lax’s name while searching online for information about Thomas Merton. [...]

I just did the most remarkable thing this morning. After spending nearly a hundred dollars on books yesterday, I just ordered another hundred dollars worth from Amazon today. Although I’m less than half way through Love Had a Compass, I just ordered two other poetry books by Lax. I can’t remember [...]

The section of Love Had a Compass entitled Port City: The Marseille Diaries, though it celebrates “the joy/ of being /alone/ and in/ a foreign land” ends up celebrating everyday life, almost as if Lax had to be transported to a foreign land to appreciate the everyday events of life. Though Lax’s vision often [...]

Robert Lax’s Love Had a Compass ends with A Greek Journal, a work that in some ways reminds me of Thoreau’s masterful Walden, though it doesn’t seem nearly as “finished,” nearly as polished. At times I almost feel embarrassed reading it, as if I’ve walked in on someone’s private meditations. The work [...]