Reviews: In the Maze

In his poem, “Sins of Omission,” Barry North tells us …”all I had to do was learn to speak the language.” Indeed he has – with an economy of straightforward, unembellished language, he mines the nuggets in ordinary life from the underlying vein of a quiet faith. His accessible poetry takes the reader on a journey of life’s lessons learned through experience – never with regret, self-pity or cynicism, but with an acceptance of reality, sometimes wry amusement, and with the optimism of one who “…leave[s] my past behind and start[s] anew….” From memory of a boy’s first sexual awakening, to bittersweet awareness of one’s children becoming adults, through loss and growing older, subtle commentary on marriage, homelessness, climate change, and end-of-life reality, North’s tells the truth with humanity and heart. −Sylvia Levinson, author of Spoon and Gateways: Poems of Nature, Meditation and Renewal

“Written in memory of his father, Barry North's In the Maze poignantly illustrates the power of family ties, passage of time and the inevitability of our own mortality. Reading these poems feels like eavesdropping on a private therapy session in which universal fears and regrets are expressed in search of redemption.” - Erin Z. Bass, Deep South Magazine

Barry W. North, a retired refrigeration mechanic, knows how to chill his readers down to "zero at the bone." The speakers of his poems hold no illusions about God, love, heroism, or altruism; they know that the heart freezes in layers, like a lake. Yet, in clear and unflinching poems, this poet shows us that being born into language and learning to bear witness with it is the one true miracle. – Julie Kane, Louisiana Poet Laureate 2011-2013