Centre and Circumference: A Collection of Poems

The phrase, "centre and circumference," the title of this poetry collection, comes from Percy Bysshe Shelley's 1821 essay, A Defence of Poetry.* Shelley's metaphor is how I have come to imagine poetry - in fact all the arts - as well. In his essay, Shelley (1821/1840) writes,

... Poetry is at once the centre and circumference of knowledge; it is that which comprehends all science, and that to which all science must be referred. It is at the same time the root and blossom of all other systems of thought; it is that from which all spring, and that which adorns all; and that which, if blighted, denies the fruit and seed, and withholds from the barren world the nourishment and the succession of the scions of the tree of life. ...Poetry enlarges the circumference of the imagination by replenishing it with thoughts of ever new delight, which have the power of attracting and assimilating to their own nature all other thoughts. ...

In a world obsessed with facts (even deceptive "alternate facts"), Albert Einstein insisted that "imagina-tion is more important than knowledge." Many scientists and philosophers, including Arthur Zajonc (2014)**, have likewise restored imagination to its place as the ultimate source of all ways of knowing both self and external world. In the least, there are many ways of knowing. Poetry, far from being an afterthought and poor second to regal science, liberates and revitalizes thought. Far from being diminished by science, poetry can inform and rescue science as well as, in turn, be inspired by science.

Far from representing a forever turning-away, inward, from the world, poetry (nerve endings of which reach both outward and inward in constant dialogue) is an essential instrument for knowing the world. "Subjectivity" is an instrument of greater, not lesser, "objectivity." The poet's unconscious is stimulated by worlds within and beyond, in a kind of eternal dance. Words, as written, read, spoken, and heard, are the fruit of this dance. The poet does not write in a void. All creativity is intersubjective, the fruit of dialogue.

I hope that the poems in this collection enlarge the compass of your imagination, of your world, and of your engagement with it. I have a further wish that dwells in the invisible bond between poet and reader. In the words inscribed by Beethoven on his Missa Solemnis, "From the heart, may it go again to the heart" ("Von Herzen, möge es wieder, zu Herzen gehen!").

Yearning, desire, duty permeate every word of this collection. Intense humble identification with all earthly life drives Stein’s expression. I was particularly drawn to poems of the middle section, Time & Memory: in a letter poem addressed to Uncle Hymen, after whom he was named, Stein asks” If I am you, what am I called upon/ to do to end the grief that has been/my companion all these years?” — Dolores Brandon, memoirist, poet

Howard Stein’s poems are deeply moving, with an evocative common theme and a genuine beauty. Their timeless message comes through with power and grace. To read them is to join Howard in his personal encounter with what it means to be human.

—  David Levine, PhD, Professor Emeritus at the University of Denver and the author most recently of Creativity, Greed, and Fine Art: Making Contact with the Self, and Dark Fantasies: Regressive Movements and the Search for Meaning in Politics.

Howard Stein reminds us of the complementarity that resides in self, life experience, and the world around us.  The complement to spoken words is listening; to written words is reading; to one’s hug, that of the other; and to my gaze upon you, your life-affirming gaze in return.  The Centre must have its Circumference.  Our lives are complemented by these poems.

— Seth Allcorn, PhD, retired academic health science center and university executive, author, and consultant, who continues to pursue his now life-long interest of trying to understand human behavior in organizations.

Love of the other, solace in nature, the glory of the mesa, and musings about Ghost Ranch.

Every image profoundly inspiring, but hope and nuance, glorious vistas and speaking rocks turn to corporate greed, the politics of hate, and executive malfeasance. From open spaces to trapped human beings. This is Howard Stein’s very best poetry book.

— Peter Petschauer, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus, Appalachian State University, Boone, NC. Author of most recent In the Face of Evil: The Sustenance of Tradition, and A Perfect Portrait.