Randall Mawer

Sycamore and Other Poems Randall Mawer

Sycamore is a series of thirty not-exactly-blank-verse sketches about the people, places, and events in a small Ohio town in the 1950s. There are the editor of the local weekly, the town neer-do-well, and the perfect twins; the paw-paw grove, the willow-hung creek, and the sun-blasted hayfield; main streets root beer stand, pool hall, and hardware and variety stores; the pest-hunt, the church social, the high school basketball game, and the free show. Among the other poems in the volume are Christmas Exchange, a ballad drawn from the same time and place, several supernatural tales, and lyrics in various modes.