These poems are about the spaces in-between, the moments where your breath is caught between inhale and exhale, the quiet before the quiet. Yungkans infuses humor and wit as he explores those things which we yearn to touch and understand. This collection is one the reader will return to again and again, each time finding something different hiding in between the lines.
The prodigious poet Jonathan Yungkans’ earthbound ravens take metaphorical-magical flight and land masterfully, properly placed upon the pages of this enlightened collection of fine narrative poetry.
You read through it the first time noticing the long titles and long lines, and just the inherent goodness of it all, and then you begin to catch the ghost echoes that intertwine the various poems like dry leaves skittering in a chill wind. And you wonder if it’s a reverse ghost—a corporeal body walking within a void, or are you just dreaming your way through it. But no, it’s more solid than that. Re-read, and fold yourself into the wonder. Drawing with a black pen the contours of watercolor, reinvented in language. Solid and ethereal at the same time. So many of these poems are epic in scope, should be the centerpiece of some other book—but here they just fit softly into their assigned corner within the shape of it all. I would like to give you a name to hang on to, a reference to position it, but this is new. These winding sheets wrapped around a brain are unique to Yungkans, and he gives you this book as a gift. Remember—memories are meant to be glared at.
In The Ravens Will Arrive Later, Jon Yungkans explores everything from social and political realities to personal despair, from art history to pop culture, with a genuine, intelligent, and humane voice that cuts through darkness with wit and ironic humor, arriving just in time.
Meet the Author
Jonathan Yungkans is currently an in-home care provider and types in the wee hours while watching a skunk wander under his house. He is thankful when his writing is less noxious than that creature’s calling card. In other guises, he has been a mental-health support-group moderator, teacher, delivery driver and publications editor. He lives in Whittier, California.
