Gerda Govine Ituarte's Review of In the Dark, Soft Earth

Gerda Govine Ituarte, Poet & Editor
Book Review
June 1, 2020

In the Dark, Soft Earth is a collection of rich, profound and beautiful poems that goes beneath the surface by Frank Watson.  Words emit images that touch, hold, caress, and at the same time, usher in a range of unexpected calm in the face of dreams, love, loss, joy and wonder.  The title captures his landscape seeped in fertile ground for his work to walk, talk, fly, soar and land over and over again.  Readers will  be introduced to a flow, cadence, and tone accompanied by the music Watson’s work evokes. 

His poetry is a potpourri of nature’s creations filled with trees, moon, flowers and animals as part of a spiritual adventure.  The inviting layout of his poems heightens their enjoyment. The format is flexible and unpredictable--pleasant surprises on each page. The variety of poems is true to the theme woven throughout the collection. Watson is an experienced poet whose “staccato” style, rhyming and stanza structure flatters his work. In the Dark, Soft Earth is festooned with elegant and colorful iconic artwork.  An invitation to enter a world that is pleasant, hopeful and unforgettable.
 

Gerda Govine Ituarte’s poetry collection includes Poetry Within Reach in Unexpected Places, 2018; Future Awakes in Mouth of NOW, 2016; Alterations|Thread Light Through Eye of Storm, 2015; Oh, Where is My Candle Hat? 2012 in English and Spanish. She is the Editor and Contributor of the Pasadena Rose Poets Poetry Collection 2019: Reflection.  Resistance.  Reckoning.  Resurrection. which launched November 15, 2019.