Knowing That Most Things Break

More about the book

The poems in this, David Leightty's first full-length book of poems, cover a wide range of subjects, but bend toward a central theme: the perilous reckoning to which humankind has brought both itself and the fragile word we inhabit. Speaking comfortably in measured forms, these poems wind through sections that explore, in turns, the sometimes troubled history and present of Leightty's home city; the at-risk beauty of the surrounding rivers, fields, and woods; and the fragility of threatened human culture and civilization. Other themes include a recognition of the vastness of time and space, and the variety of human character. The poems culminate at the present day's existential reckoning-"the crux / Our scattered histories converge us to." The breadth of interests explored in these poems is manifest in the diverse points of praise offered by the three poets quoted below. Leightty has published poems widely-although sparingly-over several decades, in journals and in two chapbooks, but never before in a full-length book. He is an attorney in Louisville, where he lives with his wife, Sharon.