Footnotes

Doug Hyde with his wide lens and clear eye draws us in through his meticulous observation of both nature and human nature. He shows us what it feels like to climb a mountain to note bird songs or a returning nesting squirrel or to feel the poignancy of intimate engagement with those he loves. The love poems seem lit from within. There is puckish humor here too as when he manages to get a granddaughter to behave at table or to wear clothes while helping to build a wall. There is also loss in the lived experience recounted as when love is temporarily lost until a bridge can be rebuilt. In the face of lifes inevitable losses Hydes poems offer solace: And so we persevere . . . measuring our days. He tells hearts truth and our souls are nourished as if wed spent time with an especially wise and observant friend. One of the many pleasures of Douglas Hydes Footnotes is the quiet perceptive and inviting conversational voice that powers the poems guiding readers through a sharply detailed landscape of people and places. Rich images poignant insights and witty narratives about familiar experiences beguile and coax us to a fascinating interplay of the intellect and the senses the provocative and the downright entertaining.