Before Whose Glory

From an elderly Spaniard building his own cathedral to a straight-laced woman mortified to have been born at Woodstock, from ill-fated love beneath a kerosene moon on the shores of Lake Michigan to loneliness relieved by utter silence in Alps, Lawrence Kessenich's poems draw vivid portraits of his own powerful experiences and those of colorful individuals, real and imagined, who engage life passionately.