Gathering of Kestrels

A GATHERING OF KESTRELS by T. D. Keane is a collection of poems inspired by the varieties of life in the Kansas prairie, specifically the Flint Hills. Mr. Keane knows the prairie well as he has been studying it for over 30 years as a Professor of Landscape Architecture at Kansas State University, Manhattan, which is on the northern edge of the Flint Hills. He has taken numerous students, semester after semester, out on the prairie to observe and study in depth the animal and plant life of the prairie and he has taught the effects of human interaction with the prairie. His poems reflect the beautiful and delicate landscape using unique and skillful poetic power. His poetic techniques fill the reader with wonder, delight, and careful sound, as one would step with respect and care into the complex world of the great plains. This collection of beautiful poems reflects the spectrum of light one will see watching the prairie, hour by hour, minute by minute, without ever seeing the same shade twice, and creating a relationship with beating heart of the grasses, the tiny insects, the coyote. Reading these poems, carefully and slowly, is a transformational experience. Each poem is a meditation that calls us to respect and love the world around us, especially, the Flint Hills prairie of Kansas.