A Nod to My Father: Three Generations of Poetry

POETRY ONCE WRITTEN IN QUIET SOLITUDE and then shared between three generations is now offered together in this first collection of poems. In "A Nod to My Father," a father, son, and grandson-with obvious differences in style and depth-show uncanny similarities in subject and vision. What ties these writers together, besides relation, are their reflections on our modern times.

Influenced by his early research of Longfellow and Whitman, grandfather John McKinley's poetry centers on the irony and absurdity of the human ego and our place in the natural world. Lee, John's son, prefers to write within the syllabic style of haiku.. Adam, John's grandson and Lee's son, cites Mary Oliver and Robinson Jeffers as his poetic influences. He enjoys the latitude of free verse but also the discipline of writing in cinquains and haiku to express his social discourse.

"A Nod to My Father" demonstrates that although poetic styles may differ between fathers and sons, what they seek to imbibe and digest rarely does.

John McKinley, a retired professor from Indiana University, has published books in experimental education, participation training, and group dynamics. Lee McKinley, John’s first-born son, received his medical degree and completed an internal medicine residency from Indiana University. Adam McKinley is Lee’s youngest son. He is studying English and comparative literature.