Sherry Chandler

The Secret Knowledge of Water

I got a wonderful surprise when I opened the envelope that contained my Fall 2004 copy of Wavelength. Included was a little red book (saddle stapled quarto fold of standard letter paper): The Secret Knowledge of Water. Poems by David Rogers (Wavelength/Albireo Press 2003, 56 pages). Unlike another that some of us are old enough to remember, peace in this little red book is found in the snow-covered branches of trees:

thin limbs
vulnerable like
old men’s
hands, but
strong enough
to hold
the weight
of the Sun
like memory
between frail
fingers… (”Sun after Snow”)

I am in awe of the quiet power of this book, as one known for flamboyance should be. From the author’s bio, I learn that David “became interested in writing poems when he took a creative writing class taught by the poet Frank Steele at Western Kentucky University. At that time, David aspired to be a novelist, but it looked like the poets were having more fun.” (Amen to that.) David is one who practices writing a poem a day.

The Secret Knowledge of Water is well worth going in search of – though I have no idea how you get a copy. I suspect only through subscribing to Wavelength, which you can do for a paltry $15. I have asked David and will pass the answer on. Meantime, I hope he doesn’t mind that I share a poem with you. I choose “By starlight” because I’ve been talking about the Big Dipper. Here we have it at a different time of year:

By starlight

The Big Dipper lifts itself
in the northeast just before sunup.
Some one has packed it full of dawn,
and it spills halfway across the sky.

The Dipper always brings
only what you need.
Slaves called it the Drinking Gourd
and knew its bowl pointed

to the North Star, to freedom.
It stands up from my roof
this morning as if the shingles
had sprouted a tree of stars

or the house had grown
a full mast and sails.
The house will ride
the spun Earth all day,

a tall ship at sea
blown hard by some stellar wind.

Update: You can get a copy of The Secret Knowledge of Water by sending $5, check or cash, to
David Rogers
Wavelength/Albireo Press
1753 Fisher Ridge Road
Horse Cave, KY 42749

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