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Cathedral and Highrise
by David D. Horowitz
ISBN:978-0-9906812-0-5
144 pages/281poems
Price: $9.95 US
Publisher: Rose Alley Press, Seattle
http://www.rosealleypress.com/books.html


Advance Praise:


David D. Horowitz is a poet of form, introspection and detail, evidenced by the skillful hand with which he crafts
the poems in Cathedral and Highrise. The poems are funny and strange, sad and angry, but never short of sincere
concern for the humanity of each character they encounter. David paints you the forest by coloring every tree.
‐Karen Finneyfrock, author of Starbird Murphy and the World Outside


David D. Horowitz's Cathedral and Highrise takes us on a far-ranging journey of modern-day classical, often topical,
lyrics. His joyous versification treats major themes from the seasons to war to ancient Rome to politics to psychology
and spirituality. Sometimes aphorism, sometimes dramatic monologue, sometimes song, his best work is reminiscent of
Juvenal's Satires, Shakespeare's Histories, and Edgar Lee Masters' Spoon River Anthology. He has a gift for rhyming
iambic lines and entertaining rhymes, supported by a vast array of concrete diction. There is irony, fun, cleverness,
and abundance in this book. While his poems may indeed both "soothe and sting," the best of Horowitz here is funny,
honest, and wise.
‐ Rick Clark ~ former Seattle Central CC English Instructor


About the Author:


David D. Horowitz founded and manages Rose Alley Press, which in twenty years has published sixteen titles, including his
latest poetry collections, Cathedral and Highrise and Sky Above the Temple. David's poems have appeared in Candelabrum,
The New Formalist, The Lyric, The Smoking Poet, Quill and Parchment, and many other journals, and his essays regularly
appear in the online journal Exterminating Angel. He often organizes and hosts readings in the Seattle area, and he
maintains a website: www.rosealleypress.com.


From the Book:


Gratitude in B Minor
by David D. Horowitz

Gray drizzle syncopates the afternoon;
The hours buzz fluorescent ceiling tiles
Above beige metal cabinets and files.
A secretary stirs black plastic spoon

Through lukewarm coffee, scrolls through e-mail, strolls
Through tune in mind and dreams vacation beach,
Then sighs and re-accepts routine, new batch
Of in-box tasks. She's paid well, bustles goals,

And won't betray employer's trust, but how
She longs to waltz or tango, not feel tacked
To tasks, identified with chores, and tracked
Until completion. Yet, she'll promise, vow

Persistence, can recall her fourteen months
Of distant unemployment, so despite
Fluorescent buzz, full in-box, and dispute
About assignments, she sighs, chews on mints,

Gets back to work. Beige carpet, wall, and phone
Might not excite, but they do not offend,
And daughter must be fed. Mature new friend
Shares drizzly breaks and woes, collegial tone

To help explain, despite their rush, each step.
From scarlet mug she sips sweet lemon tea,
Types correspondence, dashes memos. Team
Approves; re-zoom speed-typing, filing; stop

For break, then pedal through the paper rain
Again. She won't betray a trust, recalls
The fourteen months, bare bank account. Beige walls
Might snooze; here's pay and peace, here's strive and strain.

 

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