Seek the counsel of trees.
They know how to tap the unseen pools
and read the wisdom of clouds.
In the poetry of James Davis the natural and human realms are in constant, luminous conversation. These poems carry us through the deep webs of relationships and life landmarks we all spin through; the wisdom call of the fallen tree before us; or a brush of wind tracing the mystery underlying it all. There is a spiritual practicality, a pointing towards, that make these poems special friends to revisit and revisit, for tea, coffee, or a slow walk in the woods, following roots to their source. For fans of Mary Oliver, Gary Snyder, Wendell Berry, and of course Hafiz and Rumi.
Praise for Seek the Counsel of Trees
“James Davis’ book of poems arrives like a heartfelt gift from a wise friend, bearing witness to the beauty of the earth and the mysteries of love and memory.”
Pam Durban, Doris Betts Professor of Creative Writing, Department of English and Comparative Literature, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
“James Davis inhabits a world where he, the at once patient and ecstatic observer, faces the choice always between launching into spirit or staying on the ground. In these rugged and luminous poems, form coexists with revelation. Whether he is watching his wife place a last tea cup on a shelf, encountering a fallen maple in the forest, or gazing across the Gulf of Mexico, the poet sees clearly with both physical and spiritual eyes, rendering from a spirited and firm world, again and again, the miracle of how ‘In the stillness the unseen brushed across my cheek.”
Laura Hope-Gill, Poet Laureate of the Blue Ridge Parkway, author of The Soul Tree: Poems and Photographs of the Blue Ridge Parkway
“In this insightful volume of poetry, James Davis dances with our modern sensibilities in timeless ways. You will find much wisdom here, like: ‘Speak tenderly to your neighbors and heap praises on their dogs.’ With advice like this, how can you go wrong? His insight is vast. Welcome to his world.”
James Navé, poet, founder of the Imaginative Storm Writing Salon
“The inner workings of James Davis’ poetry brings us to a deeper under- standing of what it means to be in relationship to ourselves and Nature.”
Tracey Schmidt, author of I Have Fallen In Love With the World
Veil
The snow that morning did not drift
seeking a place to land,
but fell straight down with fine intent
and cast upon the world a veil.
The stone walkway surrendered
color, rough edges, chips
till only the hint of shape was traced
by thin white lines.
The eye deprived of thing
awoke to the presence there.
Veils obscure to invite vision.
A woman draped in silk
reveals far more than she hides
though only curve and line remain.
The morning mist,
the hollow darkness of the night,
images on the surface of a pond,
a veil subverts the tyranny of the real
that must persist
and invites,
seduces
the eye to conspire,
to breathe together with the presence there
then fades lest it be trapped as object too.
By evening the snow released its charm
and allowed the stones to become a path again.
Cover Art & Artwork by Chiwa