Bob's love for the world, both the earthly world and its Creator, shines through on the page. His attention to detail and his exquisite rendering of visual imagery remain his strongest gifts, as well as his tenderness as he remembers loved ones near and far. These are poems written with an open heart and an expansive and expressive mind. He invites his readers to explore as he does--with curiosity, thoughtfulness, gratitude and good will. Though the memories in The Memory Chest are unique and specific to him, they resonate as universal." – Kate Angus, author of So Late to the Party
The Memory Chest
A Conversation of Poetry and Painting
by Robert F. Leventhal
With an unmistakable voice and a depth of presence, Leventhal’s work zooms out and back inward, taking stock of it all. His poems survey the surrounding landscapes: be it historical, natural, political, or emotional. They reflect on love and loss with vulnerability, and on the prospect of aging with optimism and gratitude. They travel centuries back in time and simultaneously ask the question of what it means to be alive in the world today. Years of leadership in the Jewish community provides him access to Biblical language and wisdom. The artwork that accompanies the poems creates and elegant conversation between visual art and poetry. There is a deep reverence within many of these works that is balanced out by Leventhal’s refusal to take himself too seriously, his zest for life, beaming in words and brushstrokes from these pages. (Dakota Read- Editor)
