Just Between Us is a celebration of the vivid human connections that occur when traveling through some of the world’s most stirring landscapes. David McElroy, a former pilot in the far north, transports us from the Arctic to the tropics, over rural and urban lands, and even into the landscape of dreams. Throughout his verse is a sense of longing and the desire for intimacy, showing that despite our diverse lives, we are all driven to share our existences with one another.
McElroy has a sharp sense of humor and whimsy. . . . Offers rewards on each page rendered in brief handfuls of words.
Just Between Us takes the reader on some wild journeys—from Alaska’s North Slope to foreign ports and vivid dream-worlds. These poems are filled with rich language, sharp details, and surprising attention to form, McElroy’s book offers insights on work, travel, relationships, and the inner life. A masterful collection.
Just Between Us touches that sweet spot between poet and writer with its palpable appreciation of the many facets of the lives we are given to lead. Reading this book releases endorphins that all us to embrace our own lives with an extra burst of energy, strength, and joy.
Following a glittering constantly turning moral trail, McElroy roams the world as troubadour and figurative traveler. From the Arctic to Asia, from Oliktok to Oslo, McElroy orchestrates the poems of Just Between Us into fine and durable chunks of poetic affection. These poems indulge in the complex pain, joy, and laughter that McElroy finds everywhere and show us the epiphanies that lurk there ready to surface at any moment. McElroy’s poems discover these special moments that transmute our confusion and wonder into a convincing and loving embrace. These are poems that enlarge our vision of the planet. Poems to aspire to.
David McElroy lives in Anchorage, Alaska and recently retired as a commercial pilot of small planes in the Arctic in support of wildlife research, industry, and wild fire control. He has two previous books of poems, Making it Simple and Mark Making.
Acknowledgements
Waiting for You
WOVEN ZIGZAG WITH LIGHTNING
Cheyenne Mountain Zoo
Cruising the Baltic
Sabrina Bort
Kriskindlmarkt
Bellagio
My First Wat
Hulling Rice
Waterfalls
Prayer for the Love Coach
Desert Walk
Pachamama
Chipa
Seven Sleepers in the Street
Volcanoes in the Window
Zacualpa
IN YOUR DREAMS
In Your Piano Turner Dream
In Your Apple Dream
In Your Snowflake Dream
In My Deli Dream
In Your Goat Dream
In Your Tango Dream
In Your Sexual Fantasy Dream
In Your Light Dream
In Your Prison Guard Dream
In Your Child Soldier Dream
In Your Future Dream
In Your Tie Dream
In Your Retirement Dream
I GOT A SAWZALL
Melting Pot
Ice Road Trucker
Paul Austin: Oilfield Pianist
Videographer
Intermission
Weatherman Healing
Take an Orange in Case You Get Lost
Siping
Distaff
Encephalogram
Florina Sings Die Loreley
Three Weeks Rain
I Got a Sawzall
AGAINST INDIFFERENCE
Just Between Us
Some Fogs
Some Gossip
Some Colors
Some String
Some Women’s Hair
Eclipse
Dog Dancing
Coccyx
Pall Bearers
So One Day
Ugly Lovers
Winter Garden
Morning Paper
Waiting for You
WOVEN ZIGZAG WITH LIGHTNING
Cheyenne Mountain Zoo
Cruising the Baltic
Sabrina Bort
Kriskindlmarkt
Bellagio
My First Wat
Hulling Rice
Waterfalls
Prayer for the Love Coach
Desert Walk
Pachamama
Chipa
Seven Sleepers in the Street
Volcanoes in the Window
Zacualpa
IN YOUR DREAMS
In Your Piano Turner Dream
In Your Apple Dream
In Your Snowflake Dream
In My Deli Dream
In Your Goat Dream
In Your Tango Dream
In Your Sexual Fantasy Dream
In Your Light Dream
In Your Prison Guard Dream
In Your Child Soldier Dream
In Your Future Dream
In Your Tie Dream
In Your Retirement Dream
I GOT A SAWZALL
Melting Pot
Ice Road Trucker
Paul Austin: Oilfield Pianist
Videographer
Intermission
Weatherman Healing
Take an Orange in Case You Get Lost
Siping
Distaff
Encephalogram
Florina Sings Die Loreley
Three Weeks Rain
I Got a Sawzall
AGAINST INDIFFERENCE
Just Between Us
Some Fogs
Some Gossip
Some Colors
Some String
Some Women’s Hair
Eclipse
Dog Dancing
Coccyx
Pall Bearers
So One Day
Ugly Lovers
Winter Garden
Morning Paper
