Overview

Sudden Shadows is poetry of the unexpected, meditations on loss, love, faith, transformation, and resilience. Written after the death of the author's wife - and the heart attack he suffered several months later - these 21 poems are both personal and universal, poignant and sometimes playful, on subjects ranging from the aftermath of a devastating hurricane to the lessons a father left his son to the sudden death of a childhood friend. Although they often explore the shadowlands of human nature, they are poems that leave the reader with a sense of hope, as in the collection's closing words: ""Reminding us, if only briefly, what we started with. What we have left: a lifetime.""

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Reviews

James Lilliefors' debut chapbook Sudden Shadows is poetry built on a foundation of love and gratitude. His words sustain a deep connection with joy while exploring, with honesty, the invisible darkness of life and the ache in which we find the truest expressions of the human experience. This collection will crack you open and in it you may find your inspiration to keep going, as well. -Kellie Scott-Reed, assistant editor-in-chief, Roi Faineant Press Sudden Shadows is a poignant journey through the landscapes of memory, loss, and nostalgia. James Lilliefors writes with an intimacy that draws readers into moments of profound reflection-capturing the fleeting nature of childhood, the quiet beauty of nature, and the weight of grief. Each poem feels like a quiet revelation, turning the ordinary into something extraordinary. Lilliefors' ability to blend the personal with the universal resonates long after reading, making Sudden Shadows a heartfelt and deeply evocative collection. -A.R. Williams, author of A Funeral in the Wild and Time in Shenandoah, editor of East Ridge Review James Lilliefors' poems are technically accomplished, thoughtful, and rewarding on first reading. He writes compellingly in both open and closed forms, with memorable imagery and diction, about the passage of time, loss, and the beauty of the world. There is much to admire, and to enjoy. -David Stephenson, author of Rhythm and Blues, winner of the Richard Wilbur Award, and editor of Pulsebeat Poetry Journal ""The will to survive / outlasts the will to destroy,"" notes the speaker in ""The Purpose of Trees,"" a poem that captures a thematic core of James Lilliefors' Sudden Shadows: how to safeguard the singularity of one's experience that, over time, figures as ""breath on glass."" Tender and earnest in their instruction, Sudden Shadows offers us poems of a life unfolding-of witness, of loss and remembrance, and of wisdom gathered-though especially of preservation. As snow collects, ""...I pull on my boots / and go outside / to walk in it, while I still can / To leave footprints."" And reader, despite time and shadow, these poems are the footprints. These poems are a heart pulsating in the hand. As in the living room, after the speaker's beloved exhales her final breath, still the ""cat slept on her cushion / and sunlight continued / to stream in."" Allow the beauty and lessons of Sudden Shadows to stream through you, too-to consider what might be apprehended amidst all this waning light. The answer? More light. -Susan L. Leary, author of Dressing the Bear Fireflies flicker, trees stand guard, reality outgrows boyhood, vows succumb, the past lures, nature takes her course only to be snuffed, old shoes are filled one last time, and eons end in Lilliefors' world, steeped in vivid, fragrant nostalgia. Despite its fair share of loss and heartache, this is a world you want to inhabit, for this is where love dwells. -Ankit Raj Ojha, author of Pinpricks and editor of Wives and The Hooghly Review James Lilliefors' Sudden Shadows traverses ""the borders of certainty,"" navigating our world of compulsions and desires, reminders of the past and the open question of the future. All the while, the collection seems to ask how to live in the spaces we pass through, when it is all too clear that our presence is temporary. But it answers that question too: just consider the observation of how ""a beam of sunlight made patterns / in our living space."" The voice of these poems is no stranger to loss, but ""Hope sleeps like a dangerous thought,"" and dares to find meaning in the shifting light. -Andy Fogle, author of Mother Countries and Across From Now, poetry editor of Salvation South

Author Information

James Lilliefors is a poet, journalist, and novelist. SUDDEN SHADOWS is his first collection of poetry.

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