The Rain at Midnight [Paperback]

This one poem spoke to me because my mother and I have often felt the way the boy in the poem felt about his missing arm. If only my learning disability etc., were caused by some accident and I was not born with it then people would understand what I was going through better and come to my aid instead of me having to fight for any little bit of help that I was able to recieve. I identified with the boy in this poem and I believe that anyone who reads this book will find at least one poem that they will identify with. After all the poems in this book are about the human condition with all its imperfections, longings and frailties. I highly recommend this book.

"The Rain at Midnight" is a collection of poems that so aptly describe the male perspective. Joseph Hutchison delves into a variety of situations ranging from the observations he makes in nature to the inner experiences he weaves into poems. Each poem is an adventure into the reality of existence. At times his words are playful, profound or show a focus on presence.

I loved how he talks about tidal pools photographing his face or how the sun is like "apricot fire dripping." He uses such vivid images and often sexuality is never far below the surface of his thoughts. I like the unbridled words in "Internal Combustion." It seems anger is sparked and it burns or sinks down inside him writhing like a demon.

Joseph Hutchison explores everything from the awakening jolt of youthful discovery to the slow passionate ritual of languishing in love. He also explores the tragedy of a failed relationship.

"Brightness and Shadow" reveals the romantic nature of love, while other poems touch briefly on the tragedy of broken promises. I love "Brightness and Shadow" and would recommend the book for just this one poem alone. Here, he is remembering a night of love while he finds various items all over the room. It is loving and sexy and quite exquisite.

There is a sad, yet sweet acceptance in "An Amusing Anecdote" as he sits with his ex-wife after their divorce is final and "perhaps" an analysis of decisions leading to the situation, in "Good."

"I might have denied myself your kiss, your caress.
I might have sneered, "What's happiness worth?"
I might have let my duties define my desires.
I might have hurt no one. I might have been good."

How could a man living at this depth of awareness be satisfied with less than a downpour of love? Yet, his heart makes choices and leads him to love and wounds, failures and bitter struggles that keep the peace at bay.

In the first poem, he showers while trying not to wake his family and in the last poem, he pretends to sleep while listening to the rain at midnight as the rain drops become the chattering voices of three beautiful sisters.

"or maybe they'd simply blend back
into rain, a dark rain, the lull of it,
the sweet nothing noise and the kiss of it,
the tears and the healing sleep of it at last."

Joseph Hutchison knows how to transform even the most casual observation into pictures where rivers of words tumble over slippery stones and you can imagine yourself lost in the river, stumbling near a shore of "ink-black" pines where "feverish stars have risen" and there is a cold comfort in the "bone-white moon."

It seems life gives us choices and then at times, it throws us into a dark river where we have no choice but to swim deeper into life itself.

These poems are about surviving life and appreciating beauty along the way. Even in the cold, black river, you can look up and see the stars.

~TheRebeccaReview...