Infinite Altars

“This book makes one realize anew the power of narration in poetry. In Jim Brasfield's gifted hands it brings to remarkable life the smallest moment, the oldest myth, the acuteness of time.” ~Vivian Gornick, author of The Odd Woman and the City

“In these poems, Nature, always changing, always enigmatic, is like a human face. Brasfield's moving lines decipher the gestures of this captivating and intriguing face, which always has something subtle and deep and real to say about us. Words feel like silences. The air of these enveloping and serene poems enters your lungs and you breathe it for quite a while. Then, you open the book again, for another breath.” ~Arturo Fontaine, author of La Vida Doble

“In Infinite Altars, the altars are surfaces of light comprising all that we see. Its poems, narrative and expressive in quality, are often startling in content and repeatedly treat questions of light, presence, space, and the act of finding—among the infinite manifestations of change—singular places where we engage with our passing days and our passage into the future.” ~Project MUSE

“The collection has at its heart an instinctive patience, asking of its readers a corresponding willingness not just to witness or overhear, but to engage in the construction and accumulation of meditative insight. That responsive participation constitutes the most valuable (and these days, somewhat unusual) pleasure of lyric poetry, which Brasfield’s book offers generously throughout.” ~The Florida Review