Ledger Domain

"Ledger domain" is a near homophone for "legerdemain" and the poems between the covers of David Stanford Burr’s Ledger Domain evince both definitions of that word: cleverly executing deception (or degrees of deception) and displaying skill or adroitness. Whether musing on memory or invoking the muse, these poems amuse with their wry humor, playfulness, and double-entendres and also focus vividly on small details, often turning a little observed moment into a very large idea evocatively and wonderfully realized. Poems spark from such diverse "prompts" as a banal email solicitation, an exploration of what a six-letter mystery word "is," and how a jumble of wooden letters in the street might spell out a surprising reveal that resonates poignantly. The sound underlays with alliteration, assonance, internal and slant rhymes; the rhythm propels; and the richness and precision of language sweep the reader along the swift and deep river of the poet’s imaginative sensibility. The deft diction and sureness of expression of this poet's unique voice ring with authority. In nine, themed sections Ledger Domain shepherds the reader on a journey from birth, through the neighborhoods of childhood, adulthood, and parenthood to the likelihood of an afterlife, an alpha to omega expanse that blurs the boundaries of human life. Interweaved—as with all our lives—are experiences of family, sensuality, sexuality, oneness with nature, spirituality, creative process, and the engagement with personae we come across or that are the legerdemain of our psyches. The reader journeys through David Stanford Burr's words and vision and closes Ledger Domain with having arrived in the literal world, again, but with new eyes.