West, Poems of a Place

West, Poems of a Place is a book which describes and revels in the changes in the author's life when he and his wife moved out of San Antonio, into a country place in the small town of Lytle, Texas. Dedicated to the fine Texas poet, Robert Burlingame, West's focus on the dayliness of the natural world and the wonder of it to new eyes, is a celebration in keeping with Burlingame’s voice and vision. This book is rich in names—places, plants, animals—and has a celebratory tone that is infectious.

Jim LaVilla-Havelin is a poet, educator, and arts administrator. He is author of four books of poems – Rites of Passage (Charon Press 1968), What the Diamond Does Is Hold It All In (White Pine Press 1978), Simon’s Masterpiece (White Pine Press 1983), and most recently, Counting (Pecan Grove Press, 2010). LaVilla-Havelin’s poems have appeared in the Texas Observer and other journals; in the anthologies Is This Forever, Or What? and Between Heaven & Texas; and in the Texas Poetry Calendar (and in Big Land, Big Sky Big Hair, the Dos Gatos Press’ anthology from the Texas Poetry Calendar).