Crossings

Gwyn Parry's lyric voice is inscribed with the rhythms and accents of his native Welsh; essentially, he is writing in Welsh through the medium of English. To read his poetry is to enter a transformational vision of the world, one that is alive to the beauty of the landscape and the grace of a people at one with their natural environment. In this collection, he faces his own native land, his own life, using a language and a form that is simple and yet compellingly intense. The result is a powerful confrontation with loss - loss of childhood, loss of the land itself, and the final wrenching loss of a beloved father. Parry's striking ability is to capture a vanishing world through the examination of his own life. Ultimately, what he offers us is a rare and precious gift: the truth of a life authentically lived.