The poems in Light & Darkness rise in the tradition of Rexroth—clear yet complex in their simplicity.

A tomcat jumps from a window ledge;
a songbird scatters away across the sky.
We are all hunters after some
elusive prey, some distant object.
I must sit a moment longer,
watch colors of the sun
turn every leaf of every tree.

With allusions as diverse as Homer, Li Po, T.S. Eliot, and Amerindian myth, these poems celebrate the turning of the year, mourn love gone wrong, and ponder the unsolved problem of light and darkness in the human soul.

“Baldwin’s poetry is tender-sweet as lullabies, hard-etched as crystal. A heartfelt and powerful collection that will recall your lost dreams. Sorrowful and redemptive.”
—Debra Magpie Earling

“This is poetry at its best—vivid, evocative images, suffused with longing for something ultimately elusive and unattainable. Through a series of loosely linked poems, Baldwin reveals the poetry hidden in the world and paints the seasons and ages in the life of “a man, a father, and a husband,” living not on, but as, the line between darkness and light.
—Mark Apelman

“A book to be read, re-read, and treasured.”
—Jane Candia Coleman

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