Richard Widerkehr's In the Presence of Absence is a book of loss and recovery, grief

and wonder. These are poems informed with clarity and compassion, and a quiet

lyricism in confronting the mortal world, the death of parents, and life-threatening

illness. There is a freshness and ease of manner to Widerkehr's writing and at times

a kind of other worldly aura, 'that strange gift from the other side.' There is as well a

deep gratitude that infuses these poems, that grounds them in the here and now. He

is a poet who has 'been dealt happiness, /grief, and two wild cards.' And we are the

lucky readers who have been dealt these marvelous poems."

-Joseph Stroud. author of Of This World: New and Selected Poems


"In The Presence Of Absence overflows with musicality, surprising imagery, and

gratitude earned by paying attention to the small moments that make up a reverent

life: 'the black trees reflected in a roadside puddle, ' a mother's slow passing, and

the tenderness with which the poet stands witness to her death, 'I must be true/

to your story./I can't tell it/one spoonful at a time.' This book details a heart that

is wide open to both the pain and beauty of life. Widerkehr sings Kaddish for his

father, admires bikini-clad women on a resort beach in Mexico, and observes his

own cancer surgery, all the while knowing we are just passing through. We can

learn much from these remarkable poems. As Widerkehr brilliantly says, 'It's time

to make my statement/ about how certain stars float in the night.'"

-Gayle Kaune, author of All the Birds Awake