Duets of Motion
Copyright © 2001
by Donal Heffernan
Lone Oak Press
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Motion defines our lives. Within this motion are the many duets we all experience.
These contemporary stories are about those duets: duets with another person, people,
forces, or "sacred" places, objects and beliefs. Several stories
bounce into the spiritworlds of the Lakota and Chippewa. — from the publisher
This is Donal Heffernan's third and latest book of poetry and fiction that I've read, and I
believe his best for the reason it moves in and out of realty, but somehow never leaves the
world of facts and the physical. These stories about what we the living risk —
these are some
of the best short fiction pieces I've read. The book is both for those who enjoy poetry and
stories on a level that hits you in the soul and gut. I highly recommend it.
— M Wolf, Poetry Ireland
Motion defines our lives, according to Heffernan in his new book, Duets of Motion.
The heart of this motion is an array of many duets we all experience: duets with another
person, forces, or sacred places, objects and beliefs. Several of his stories bounce into
the spiritworlds of the Lakota and Chippewa. The cover of Duets is by an internationally
known Chippewa artist, Roy Thomas, Thunder Bay, Ontario.
— New York Times
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Hillsides: Poems & Tales
Copyright ©
by Donal Heffernan
Anvil Press
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The reader must be alert for sudden and surprising truths. There should be signs in
Heffernan's book, such as those on Irish roads reading "Black Spots" —
warning of hidden things,
entrances and exits, not expected or visible, to alert the reader along the way.
— Senator Eugene McCarthy
Donal Heffernan doesn't like to be pushed around — by ancestors, politicians, the
noise and busyness of the city, the spoilers of nature; and he doesn't like the pushers
either. "Leave things alone, or you'll never see them clearly," he says many times in this
collection of poems and short stories. About nature, he says, "You can't push a river/and
hear her songs." To the whiners, he says, "Just take a number and wait/when you bully to
the front of the line. He won't have the past shoved down his throat: "eating the past is
a wretched dinner for the living." — Bill Holm, Minneapolis Tribune
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Orion
Copyright © 1993
by Donal Heffernan
Lone Oak Press
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Heffernan the poet is also Heffernan "The Hunter." His constellation may be one month,
Asia, the next a voyage to Latin America and to Europe and Africa from time to time.
Sooner or later, a poet had to step forward and comment on this era of NAFTA, UN, WTO and
international technology deals. The new MBA hunters don't seem to notice they are being
paid half-price along with the workers. His poems "Orion" and "Lakotaland" offer wonderful
observations from an experienced hunter. This is contemporary poetry, screaming poetry,
about today's world. He hits some homeruns in language, too.
— Lee Egerstrom. Knight-Ridder Newspapers
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