Review of LIFE SENTENCES by Jack Conway.

Life Sentences. Jack Conway. ( North Country Press. 114 West St. Attleboro, Ma.) 02073. $12.

It is rare that I pick up a book of poetry, stop randomly at a poem, and just love it. This happened with LIFE SENTENCES, a new collection by poet, Jack Conway. The poem I put my discerning finger on was entitled, SKELETONS IN A TREE. It concerns an isolated woman, who helplessly watched her cat starve in a tree. The condition of the feline is closely aligned with that of the female, who is literally starving to death from loneliness.
Conway concludes: " The skeleton is still up there, she says,/lodged between two branches/ She is crazy, I think,talking that way./There is no skeleton in a tree/ not-from what I can see,/from the road,/driving by." This poem defines, " lives of quiet desperation." And if you think desire dies with your impending dotage, you might think again, with this short gem, HER BODY LIKE A BELL, " Her body like a bell/hangs over me./ So much has come and gone/and still/ the clang." Mr Conway is the author of many books, and if this is any indication of his ability, I would advise you to corner the Conway Market. *appeared in ibbetson update.