The Structure of Desire

"The Structure of Desire" by W. F. Lantry, is a wonderful book of poetry for all those who have loved someone. But it is infinitely more than just a book of love poems. The author places his reader at a privileged crossroad of his poetic landscape that reveals the sanctum sanctorum of the multi-faceted magic that results from loving another. In this case Miranda, who he describes as: "A miraculous being, whose existence could be neither imagined nor predicted, who insists she's 'just a mortal woman.' A protean changeling, whose transformations, if revealed, would mystify the most jaded skeptic. The center of a whirlwind. A coloratura soprano. Also, by the grace of providence, my wife." Lovers of good poetry will find in Lantry a master craftsman of what can make the genre so powerful: At such times as when this world obeys its own internal physical logic. A world to which readers have traditionally escaped to read verses such as this, where, as in Plato's cave, we are indirectly shown the emotional reality in the author's heart. In this collection, his reader will have models of the pre-eminence of inspiration and talent. Lantry had his formal curriculum well in hand and his technical tools sharpened but nothing could surpass or replace the immediacy of the authenticity of finding his ultimate muse: Miranda. She is the idée fixe that powers his drive to capture her presence: Such as the de-incarnate wind or the fleeting spark of a lover's glance. Moments such as these permeate the best poems of this collection. Great loves and talent have always found echoes and correspondences of each other in other art forms and other artists. This book is an excellent example of this landscape.