"What I find most compelling about Charles Cross's poetry is his profound relationship with words, his ability to stitch together exquisite images the way a talented quilter brings together pieces of fabric to create something endearing and warm, full of life and history. With his words, Cross plunges us into a world of coonhounds and bothersome flies, revolution, and a timeless sense of place in the Appalachian mountains. His poetic style is rooted in the classics in both form and content, yet Cross manages to breathe new energy into his dreams of Bacchus and gutterpunk, old farmhouses and pecan pie. The final piece, “Joyous Occasion,” hits beautifully hard against the deepest well of emotions in this collection. It is Cross’s homage to his grandmother that brings the reader back to ground, a kind of ineluctable melancholy that reminds us that good poetry always starts with the life experiences that strike deep into the soul."-Michael Briggs, English Lecturer at East Tennessee State University
Tennessee poet Charles Cross makes an impressive debut with this first publication IF I SETTLE DOWN…POEMS. The poems give evidence of a man whose distance from society gives vantage to musing about the quandaries of history, mythology, the social diseases of the present, a yearning for connection that at the same time feels comfortably distant at present. This is the kind of poetry that comes form a mind that likely will age well as he publishes more. At times he pays too much attention to rhyme and overlooks soul, yet at other times his mediating observations are so keenly on target that the style of writing is unnoticed. Watching this young poet grow with what likely will be a growing audience will be anticipation worthy of consideration.
The author has a natural storytelling ability which he harnesses into a collection of words which perfectly fit and deliver his messages in style. This book would make an ideal gift to poetry lovers.
