The Only Time There Is: Poems (First Poetry)

Worley begins a stunning collection with a line about how poetry finally arrives to the poet: "Five weeks without one good line / when every dog on the block / suddenly barks." In Worley's world, time overlaps and deviates from the linear, and his clever title, The Only Time There Is, retains no meaning at all, since time itself is constructed merely of random events and loose memories. When Worley describes a "skinny grizzled crow" or a house "lit up like a riverboat," he may be remembering objects from youth or yesterday. His lyrical lines reinforce the feeling of floating through days, years, and lives, and only an occasional product reference to, say, Spaghettios or Wonder Bread, anchors a poem in a certain era. Worley asks us to look afresh on the restrictions of time. His invitation is well worth accepting. Elizabeth Gunderson