Another Spring

ANOTHER SPRING begins with recently penned reflections and reminiscences of a lifetime, which bridge the leap back to the author's work of the 1970s. From here the poems continue to move back in time, mimicking the way memories naturally flow deeper into the past. The result is an evocative portrait of the 60s and 70s, against which one man's interactions with nature and society are traced in a spare yet lyrical style. Robin Matthews grew up in rural New Jersey. He was drafted into the U.S. Army during the Viet Nam War. Following his discharge, he moved to Manhattan and co-founded the poetry magazine Sanskaras with Ronald Hobbs. In 1970 Matthews left the east coast and mainstream America to pursue an alternative lifestyle in New Mexico; later he returned to work and residence in the southeast. In ANOTHER SPRING, the earnest idealism-cynicism of the poet's early work, as visited in retrospect, takes on an aura of wizened prescience. Fads may come and go, but the desire for peace, the regret over bulldozed nature, the craving for love, and the insistence on personal authenticity, have grown stronger among young people in every ensuing decade. Matthews' collection, while sure to spark memories and touch the hearts of Baby Boomers, former Flower Children and Viet Nam War era veterans, will resonate across the generations.