Here you have both works reflecting R.T. Crowley’s “The Wanderer of New Hope.” I felt another approach was needed for the theme poem; a fresh perspective. My review and actual foreword in the novella covered the ambient descriptive and now my poetry stabs at the heart of it.
Spectre
Oh, restless wanderer who leaves no tread,
when was the moment of your dread?
What fearful symmetry undone
became your arrow in the sun?
Why does your spirit not depart
these injuries you took to heart?
And why, oh why, do you still roam
these withered lands you once called home?
Claudio Oswald Niedworok
Glimpsing The Wanderer of New Hope – Review by Claudio Oswald Niedworok
Perhaps the title of the book itself reveals the true spirit of our enigmatic mystical wanderer as many, whether by experience or belief, due to grave personal misfortunes found in him a new hope for justice.
To find the power of language in conveying myth or legend effectively is the true mark of a storyteller. In R.T.Crowley’s “The Wanderer of New Hope” the wraith and spectre comes as hauntingly to life as his yellow lantern easily prevails itself upon the mind’s eye, whether actually seen or simply imagined. The landscape and historical perspectives, along with an imposing and equally fascinating cast of characters, are yielded masterfully by a true historian. This literary smorgasbord also goes a long way in revealing local regions, culture, and lore.
The rustle of leaves during an absence of wind or animal is not unfamiliar to me during long walks from twilight into night along the railroad tracks near Goodwin Road in Apex. I lived and thrived there for eight good years with my four legged hiking companions, Buddy and Tascha, during the eighties. A pale yellow lantern in the distant wood also rings true to memory, however vaguely time distils it now. The stories I heard from farmers, neighbours, and landowners about drowning out the former valley that is now Lake Jordan, for I lived in a house moved from that flooded region, were all tales of discontent at government. The mystical wanderer walking its shores was often conveyed as much in relief at the possibility of a judgement and retribution in their favour as it was related as something more foreboding and fearful. In either case these stories mirror those of R.T.Crowley like a familiar caution ’round a dangerous bend. You will meet the ghost no less authentically upon these pages than you might in an actual encounter, rest assured ~ if rest you may.
–Claudio Oswald Niedworok