CK Williams composes his poetry from the sentence. Captivating and intricate sentences that move the lines to create a nimble music of thought and images. His poetry is some of the most ‘accessible’ out there, which some might find keeps his work away from repeated readings, but there is an assured pleasure gained when sitting down with his poetry. An audio voice emerges from the pages, where, while reading through the eyes, you also begin to hear all the inflections and subtle changes in enunciation. The varied flex of pitch, tone and rhythm. The insistence of breath to easily follow his thought at both intellectual and emotional levels.

Throughout the collection Wait, topics Williams brings to his poetry include relationships, sex, love, aging, various world issues, art, philosophical notions.... An extensive list where it could appear that he is spreading himself a little too thin. That maybe he should choose a few of those and go more in depth. But, I don’t think the weight of the poetry relies upon the topics themselves. Instead, the weight of his voice and thought. His topics include just about everything anyone might think about on an average day, and Williams, to me, provides a poetic voice for those thoughts.

Conclusions though? We don’t have any, so why should Williams? But there is resolution in the art. The delight to be found in language. And in many poems Williams challenges and examines the notion of Judeo Christian guilt and sin. A concept he does not adhere too, but can’t deny that such notions remain embedded within his psychology, as well as within the ways the Western world and our elected leaders proceed at an international level.

When sitting down with Williams’s poetry, it is like having him sit with you in conversation, eye to eye, saying, “I have thought of this.” And doing so in an articulate, thoughtful and heartfelt fashion. Relatively simple, but at times its good to be reminded of how simple human thought and feeling can be.