Catching My Drift: Flames, Floods and Flowing Decades

John E. Simonds approached his fifth collection of poetry with the urgency that grows from nine decades of orbiting the sun, The scarcity of time adds tension to the need for getting it done and into print.

As with his earlier work, the content of Catching My Drift relates to a range of experience and observations from national concerns to neighborhood detail. The range also revisits family moments, actions and thoughts from the 20th century that resonate today.

How one responds to influences...