Earth and Cave by Michael Heller

“In a mixture of precise prose interspersed with pared-down, almost haiku-like poems, Heller’s meditation embodies the harsh life and land- scape of the indigenous population, along with the ever-lurking mystery and aura of Nerja’s pre-historic caves. And, in the process of remembering, he brings us movingly into touch with the most basic and eternal of human questions: how shall we relate to the others around us and to the place in which we live.”- Hugh Seidman

An Excerpt Earth and Cave

Nerja. That first night, my wife and I descending from the bus at the depot, already late June, 1965. The air, warm and ripe, acrid with the freshly laid manure wafting off the surrounding fields. Could I breathe this smell, could I breathe at all, given the powerful disjunctures I sensed I was creating for myself in the year ahead?

About the Author

MICHAEL HELLER is a poet, essayist and critic. Among his many books are Exigent Futures: New and Selected Poems (Salt Publishing, 2003), Knowledge, In The Builded Place, Wordflow and Living Root, Uncertain Poetries: Selected Essays on Poets, Poetry and Poetics (Salt Publishing, 2005) His critical book on the Objectivist poets, Conviction’s Net of Branches received the Di Castagnola Prize from the Poetry Society of America. He is the recipient of many awards including those from the National Endowment for the Humanities, NYFA and The Fund for Poetry.