A Nod to My Father
Three Generations of Poetry
by
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Quarry town In a tough town dashed in stone dust, labor is a prayer, sung from the saw-blade and answered in cogent icons. It is a fine place to sip piping plain coffee, get lost in a fog bank, or grab a rumbling truck and head to the lake, a slice of wild pie. Troll to a cove, wipe your forehead with a clean sleeve, cast and shatter the scene. Load your stringer, a morning's patience slung through the gills.
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About the Book
POETRY ONCE WRITTEN IN QUIET SOLITUDE and then shared between three generations is now offered together in this first collection of poems. In A Nod to My Father, a father, son, and grandson—with obvious differences in style and depth—show uncanny similarities in subject and vision. What ties these writers together, besides relation, are their reflections on our modern times.
Influenced by his early research of Longfellow and Whitman, grandfather John McKinley’s poetry centers on the irony and absurdity of the human ego and our place in the natural world. Lee, John’s son, prefers to write within the syllabic style of haiku.. Adam, John’s grandson and Lee’s son, cites Mary Oliver and Robinson Jeffers as his poetic influences. He enjoys the latitude of free verse but also the discipline of writing in cinquains and haiku to express his social discourse.
A Nod to My Father demonstrates that although poetic styles may differ between fathers and sons, what they seek to imbibe and digest rarely does.
About the Author
JOHN MCKINLEY, a retired professor from Indiana University, has published books in experimental education, participation training, and group dynamics.
LEE MCKINLEY, John’s first-born son, received his medical degree from Indiana University and practices internal medicine.
ADAM MCKINLEY is Lee’s youngest son. He is studying English and comparative literature.