In 1995, long-time poet Philip Levine won the Pulitzer Prize in Poetry for his 1994 Volume titled, The Simple Truth. Well-known in literary circles, Levine has been publishing work since 1963 and in 1991, was awarded the National Book Award for his book titled, What Work Is. Levine has been considered a champion of the poor, and the eminent Harold Bloom compared his elegies to those of Walt Whitman. The poet’s keen eye and sense of resigned patience sharpen the focus on life’s unremarkable wonders.

Unlike his previous works, such as What Work Is, The Simple Truth covers a breadth of topics and genres. From poems about Valentine’s Day to the good earth to travel to death to chalk, Levine approaches a vast spectrum of ideas. His style is consistent throughout, usually consisting of one extended free-verse stanza, at times indenting at a shift in tone or idea. Also consistent is a certain tinge of melancholy. In “Ode for Mrs. William Settle,” Levine begins, “In Lake Forest, a suburb of Chicago,/ a woman sits at her desk to write/ me a letter. She holds a photograph/ up to the light, one taken/ 17 years ago in a high school class/ in Providence.” He concludes, “Above the Middle West, truth and beauty/ are one though never meant to be.” These notions of memory and distance (both psychological and physical) permeate many of his works. In the title work, “The Simple Truth,” Levine contends, "Some things/you know all your life. They are so simple and true/they must be said without elegance, meter and rhyme,/they must be laid on the table beside the salt shaker,/[…] in the shadows of picture frames, they must be/ naked and alone, they must stand for themselves." This poet seeks out those truthful statements. Although he writes of the everyday, there is always a sense of something more. Some poets take Hemingway’s advice and write the facts and little else, and the reader must be—and is—satisfied with just that. Levine’s true talent is in his ability to leave things out. He writes plainly, but not wholly, and many details must be engineered by the reader’s imagination. This artistry of absence adds a certain air of mystery, a feeling that this is not the whole story, that there is something more to be discovered in the next poem and the next. Levine keeps us wanting and in doing so creates a delicious tension between reader and writer, one that we must strive to bridge. The effort makes the poems come to life.

Another intriguing and refreshing part of this book is the amount of geographical diversity incorporated into the text. At times, it feels as though some poems belong to an elegiac travelogue, such as in “Blue and Blue” where the poet reflects on his time off the coast of Argentina, or “In the Dark,” where he recalls an evening on a “Canadian shore.” Spain, Italy, New York City, and Omaha, Nebraska all play a role in and add a holistic nature to his writings. Well-written and artfully arranged, the poems offer nuggets of worldly wisdom. The writer conveys the feel of a place at a specific time in his life, without becoming journalistic.

This is not pretty poetry, and Mr. Levine is no Samuel Johnson, but in his own simple way, the author speaks truth, and that, I believe is the deep purpose of poetry. His poems, like the root vegetable he seems to love so much, have the feel and taste of potatoes. Russet, gold, purple, fingerling or brown, this terrestrial poetry is rooted in the land, with perfumes of appreciation for the small things. Mr. Levine’s work celebrates that which we take for granted—a letter from an old acquaintance, the breeze during an evening stroll, the memory of a lost loved one, a twenty-year Valentine, and, of course, the homey flavor of boiled potatoes, onions, salt and butter. In searching his own memories and examining his past experiences, Mr. Levine inspires us all to recognize and savor the starchy taste of simple truths.