“Travelogue,” in W.R. Wilkins new book, Hang Time--Collected Poems 1960-2000, is about visiting another country--one with a different language and ways of communicating--and immersing oneself in the place, even if that’s uncomfortable or embarrassing. It’s also about seeing the new and strange--those images and sounds that are unfamiliar--and allowing them to change the traveler’s mind.
And traveling with W.R. Wilkins through his poetry is to take on this mind set. Through autobiographical poems that are in turn moving, picturesque, profound, informational, and playful, we’re introduced to a way of viewing that takes nothing for granted and one that takes in the surprises of every-day living and traveling.
It’s an ironic twist that in “Travelogue” Wilkins accuses his words of being mangled. Here his words are clear and careful, pinpointing feelings precisely, creating complete travelogues or picture books. In this new, unexplored territory, Wilkins is acutely aware of his surroundings. He stands--and writes--with awe of the people and natural world around him.
As we enjoy these poems, we can take these words as an invitation to look more closely, listen more carefully, savor more completely both the common and surprising moments that make up our lives.
W. R. Wilkins has been writing since he was fifteen. Childhood was spent in a small farming town in Indiana. He has lived in the state of Washington for 55 years. He is humorously introduced at readings as a tax accountant who makes his living as a poet. He is the author of Whispers in the Wind, Something Personal, The Gandy Dancers’ Son, What the Canyon Knows, and Strip Search. He has taught over 300 workshops throughout the United States in the past 30 years, and his poems have appeared in many literary periodicals, including Cimarron Review, Wisconsin Review, and the Christian Science Monitor.
