In Wolf Moon Blood Moon, Ed Falco considers love and the loss of love, what we have today and what we remember of yesterday, the promise of youth and the disappointments and pleasures of aging. By turns whimsical, meditative, and poignant, these poems examine the joys and sorrows of living.

 

The first section offers a meditation on loss, as the author explores bereavements both personal and remote. From an elderly mother and her stroke-impaired son struggling to have a simple conversation, to a man coping with the breakup of his marriage, to strangers caught in the public tragedies of a flood or an act of mass violence, these are poems acknowledging that loss is inevitable, infused with grief, and borne with courage. The second section explores the turbulence, sensuality, and mysteries within a particular life. Speakers in these poems contemplate aging while on their way to see a Broadway play, recall a father’s violence and a mother’s selflessness, and explore the complexity of a world that seems impossible to comprehend. Together, the two sections suggest a poet looking back in contemplation.