Mel Senator

The constant floe of thoughts Mel Senator

In his latest book of poetry, The Constant Floe of Thoughts, Senator surpasses his former achievements. The book is a celebration of a life well lived, with keen observations of the natural world around him, in Connecticut, at Cape Cod and in Santa Barbara, California. The book abounds with his views of aging, friendship, love, parenthood, citizenship and a myriad other topics of interest to us all. It's a book to read and reread. Right from the beginning, the title itself, A Constant Floe of Thoughts challenges you to see even the simplest things in life through the prism, the old silvered looking glass, which is Mel Senator's mind. "Floe" is better than "flow" perhaps, because it calls to mind a large body of ice - moving even though it is frozen and enormous. Senator struggles with the ice floe that is his aging self, whether approaching him threateningly or moving away again, a reprieve. With crystalline imagery and delicate, description his poems lay out his aching heart, the deep layers of love for wife, mother, friends, children, nature. He is both at one with his surroundings and standing slightly off center, observing with sun-wrinkled eye. Constant Floe is sunset - the ravishing glory of the end of things, which Senator accepts and even welcomes with reverence, humor, and affection. Constant Floe is a treasure from start to finish.