$14.99
From the sex lives of mayflies to the plus and minus of human love, in his backyard or over the kitchen sink, Robert Okaji is a soul whisperer. With zen-like precision and depth he shepherds us between the habitual world, in which “the house finch sings as if/all air will expire at song’s end” and invisible realms where “the pear tree’s ghost shudders” and time does its magic act: “your breath/still out there//drifting”. He makes you think—a lot—then gives you a reason to laugh (“Wait, wait…I bought a ticket”). These poems please the palate in so many ways!
–Lynne Burnett
Robert Okaji has an uncanny knack for observing what moves in the shadow of a word: in the numinously ordinary things abiding on shelves and in boxes. Writing with a reticent and inquisitive eye, he finds the unspoken grace in an unremarkable bird, an incomplete spice rack, or the soapy remnants of a morning shave, all documented in the inevitable music of his craft. The result is this chapbook: a rustic, elegant anthology of doubt and illumination, and superior example of 21st century Americana.
–Daniel Schnee, ethnomusicologist.
We worry about where we are in this new century, but here is a poet whose concerns are one step ahead of us — delving centuries behind to get there. If we are indeed in a deeper “economy of dying” as he writes in “Take Away,” then Robert Okaji is our foremost venture capitalist — investing the grim with whimsy, rejoicing without looking away, looking forward without forgetting. Be warned, nothing is too easy in his world; even comfort is a “runaway bus,” and having a ticket does not guarantee it will stop for you.
–Jeff Schwaner, author of Wind Intervals.
From Every Moment a Second
by Robert Okaji
$14.99, paper
Robert Okaji attended grade school in France, graduated from high school in Italy, and earned a BA in history from The University of Texas at Austin. He lives in Texas with his wife, two dogs and some books.
Daniel Schnee –
Perfectly rendered and very poignant. Worth every penny!
Stephanie (verified owner) –
It’s more than a cut above, it’s sublime! A work of art, inside and out. Within the span of a “moment,” Okaji reveals a world that’s as accessible and profound as it is beautiful.
Luanne Castle (verified owner) –
The lyric poems of From Every Moment a Second are relatively short and seem simple. I said seem. Each polished gem is the kind of poem you fall into, without worrying if you will “get” it or not, and an array of meanings will wash over you without effort on your part, but the reward is great–an emotional and intellectual payoff.