The Spring Branch

REVIEWS As a metaphorical journey through the mind of a fisherman over the course of one year, The Spring Branch clearly references Edmund Spenser (an English Renaissance poet whose Shepherd's Calendar like The Spring Branch is cyclical and structured in the form of a calendar). As Shaffer points out in one telling line, however, this narrator is wholly American "never to be construed or confused as being/related to the anglophile." He is clearly inspired by the American Romantic poet Walt Whitman, and one can see Whitman's influence in Shaffer's emphasis on the senses, nature, and his depiction of the poet as philosopher. . . . Like the pastoral and romantic poets who precede him, Shaffer is clearly concerned with the natural world. His mistrust of advancement, both technological and economical, is in keeping with his role as philosopher-poet. In order to remind us that "The true gold in the creek is not the soft metal/but the glorious reflection of the sun from the flanks," we need the Tony Shaffers of this world. [Amy Thilges, Warrensburg Free Press 3.l,April 8-21, 2004: 15-16.] Excerpts from "After 20 years of thought, a book is born" by Chuck Orman. "His [Shaffer's] book is not one you will read straight through, but will dip into from time to time and come out feeling better." [Quoting Leroy Van Dyke] "'Tony is multi-talented--a musician, a teacher, a philosopher and he has studied the human animal. He has a sage comment for everyone.'" (Sedalia Deomocrat, Friday Jan. 21, 2005, p.7) Cover design by Tony Shaffer.

Photos
	Blind Boone Days Bookfair; Sedalia signing. Tony Shaffer and Ben Van Dyke

Excerpts

April 26 spring makes things green before they blossom people too i was green as grass once and now i'm a bloomin whatever i surely dont have all the answers about all i can say is that i know more than i knew then that is enough the tree outside my cabin window has slipped into budding without ceremony if pomp is necessary under the circumstances then i celebrate my gradualization in a diplomic manner hoping i have replaced my ignorance with wasdumb i shove aside philostrophic considerations and wander out the door hat on head, coat over arm, red setter at my side and commune with my tree it is nameless, but i know it well enough in its gentle way it has shown me and i wish to return the consideration December 25 I have a gift for you it isnt much but i wanted you to have it i wrapped it as best i could so that you would know that it is for you and i hope you like it did you ever stand outside in the new fallen snow at midnight preceding this day? i have and just a few minutes after the bell tolls a calm sets in like no other time of the year and the animals seem to sense it and relax and look skyward at the icily glittering points of light which seem cumulatively to warm the soul despite the winter cold and the air breathed in is sweet and the warmth comes from the inside out and not a sound disturbs the still and this wonderful feeling informs without words telling of magic on earth and in the heavens tangible and real and whispering in a voice so low that a candle could drown it out that there is hope.