Description

Writing from the U.S. with a Canadian background and Irish ancestry, David Cavanagh straddles a number of borders. With deft language and a compassionate voice, his poems explore complex territories of love, family, work, and nationality through the lens of personal history. They seek lost connections from a Montreal childhood, a funeral procession in Cork, or a walk with a lover among wildflowers in Vermont. Always there is yearning for meaning. And usually it's the subtle, middle ground between extremes that seems most fertile. These poems suggest that in the search for sensuous understanding lies a saving beauty and vitality. David Cavanagh is an associate dean at Johnson State College in Vermont.