The Beauty of Curved Space

In these poems, painter and poet Stephen Linsteadt opens us to the savour of life. He wants us to see, feel, hear, taste and smell that the world, moment by ordinary or agonizing moment, overflows with enlightenments and rewards. For him, one art elides into the other. His words describing painting also describe his poems: Each line a new revelation/a mystic curve or splash-Tangible, painterly landscapes become journeys of the mind, moving from, to and towards mystery, haunted by the woman, human and divine, who slips out of paintings and into poems of the body and of the soul. This gifted poet's voice is lyrical, both visionary and grounded, often dryly aphoristic: My mind is afraid I'll break my neck/ but I'm dying anyway.

—Mary Kay Rummel, Poet Laureate of Ventura County, CA