Stephen Page opens the gates to Jonathan’s ranch where “the sky is so large” and we walk with Jonathan “into the myth of the Wood, the legend of its shade, to lick the dew off leaves.” We ride horseback through the Belt of Venus. We greet Jonathan’s dog, who arrives “as a moon phase, mostly black, a crescent tie of white…the sun reflected off (his) chest (sic) like a journeying god riding a chariot”. We meet Teresa, Jonathan’s wife, who “no longer wanders the Wood, but cradles her child in the bleach of her kitchen.” We encounter “mountainous dragons with fire-wet tongues and hot breath and teeth like jagged sun-bleached rocks.” We carry belt knives, hand guns, and stand outside Malingerer’s home with hammers in our hand. Yes, Page invites us onto A Ranch Bordering the Salty River with all its beauty and violence. It is a visit we will long remember. – g emil reutter, author of Blue Collar Poet
Bio: Stephen Page is from Detroit, Michigan and is now living in Buenos Aires, Argentina. His is part Shawnee and part Apache. His other books include The Timbre of Sand and Still Dandelions. He graduated from Palomar College, Columbia University (with honors), and Bennington College. He also attended Broward College. He has received a Jess Cloud Memorial Prize for Poetry, a Writer-in-Residence with stipend from the Montana Artists Refuge, a full Writer Fellowship from the Vermont Studio Center, an Imagination Grant from Cleveland State University, and an Arvon Foundation Ltd. Grant. His book reviews have been published regularly in the Buenos Aires Herald and on Fox Chase Review. He also writes short stories, novels, and screen plays. He has taught world literature, ESL, and film studies. He loves family, friends, and spontaneous road trips.
Book Cover art by Patrick Lemoine
Publisher: Finishing Line Press
“A Ranch Bordering the Salty River” is yet available for preorder: https://finishinglinepress.com/product_info.php?cPath=2&products_id=2662
#ranching #workerbossrelationship #unerringlyhonestbook #poetrancher #diplomashiddeninasecretroom #lyricismandexactitude #attachmenttotheland #gauchoCountry #wifeandtohiswifesfamily #PatrickLemoine #gemilreutter
Stephen Page 
Reblogged this on ReBirth: The Pursuit of Porsha.
LikeLike