Rooted in the landscape and culture of the Pacific Northwest, Jaech found formative literary influences in Mother Goose, Theodore Roethke, William Stafford, Nelson and Beth Bentley, David Wagoner, and Richard Hugo. As an heir to the legacies of Blake and Neruda, Jaech's images remain near the borderland between the real and surreal and seek to reach beyond the commonplace and into the unforeseen. Drawing clarity from ambivalence, Harmony River is the culmination of years of dedication to writing and teaching poetry, and to the epiphanic grace of making art. There's lots to laud in Harmony River, Stephen Jaech's new poetry collection, but what engages me most is Jaech's willingness to proffer an abundance of sensorial detail... the reader doesn't spectate; s/he participates. -Michael Darcher, Author of Odd Comfort and The Silver State Stories Stephen Jaech's long-awaited collection... views with empathy and subtle wisdom... Where there is loss or pain... there is also redemption found glancingly in a slant of light or the daily changes of "Today, a sweet magnolia, tomorrow a field of snow."...To sum up the book: "the wonder comes out/ from the trembling of his heart." -Sherry Rind, The Storehouse of Wonder and Astonishment and Between States of Matter In Steve Jaech's gem lode of a book... I had to sit back and absorb, to read random lines and savor parts of the original experience... -James Cervantes, author of From Mr. Bondo's Unshared Life and Sleepwalker's Songs: New & Selected Poems
