ROBERT P. ARTHUR: SELECTED WORKS
“Arthur makes me nostalgic for places I’ve never been” – The Virginian‑Pilot
“Each rereading of this narrative delights me more.” – Pleasant Living Magazine
“Masterfully depicts life on and around the Chesapeake.” – Currents
“Passionate knowledge, keen observation.” – The News Journal, Delaware
“As tough and genuine as a waterman’s palm, these rhythms are the sway of boats on tide waters, wind, straining ropes, and snapping sails.” –Ghent Magazine
“A powerful introduction to those who do not know the Bay – a delightful reminder for those who do.” – Eastern Shore News
A poet of international renown, Robert P. Arthur is a virtuoso practitioner of a wide variety of forms. His work displays an acute feel for drama and a vivid sense of place. This collection includes the best of hundreds of individual poems written by Arthur over a forty‑year career, including The Arrow, The Poetess of Blue Streak Grill, and many more. Also, poems in series, including Vija’s War and Crazy Horse’s Woman. Emotionally and intellectually charged monologues portray such diverse characters as disillusioned Jamestown settlers, Crazy Horse’s death‑obsessed lover, a Latvian child caught up in the chaos of World War II, Appalachian snake handlers, Chesapeake Bay watermen, and painter Vincent van Gogh, as well as the voice(s) of Arthur himself.
These works immortalize a doomed natural world of grief, joy, and unparalleled beauty. Both accessible and lyrical, they’ll delight and move both poetry lovers and those who never thought poetry was for them. “This is the hour/Of keenest memory/The invisible shore/Shudders/In impossible thunder….” Available now!
Black Gum Against Thunder
by Robert P. Arthur
This first-ever collection includes the best of Robert P. Arthur’s hundreds of poems written over a forty-year career. They include “The Arrow”, “Wikipedia”, “The Poetess of Blue Streak Grill”, “Cattle Sleeping” (or “Sleeping Cattle”), “Appearances”, “Sunday Seizures”, and poems in series: Vija’s War, and Crazy Horse’s Woman.
Arthur’s poems focusing on place have been podcast from San Francisco and his poem/plays produced on stage in Virginia, Maryland, Washington D.C., Pennsylvania, New York City, and St. Petersburg, Russia.
Ebook Edition, ISBN: 2940015808964, $5.99 US
Northampton House Press 