Trapped in Oblivion

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In Trapped in Oblivion: Between the Rule of Heaven and Hell, poet Richard D. Kydd Jr. describes exactly that human condition: Souls at once held in the hand and vision of God, while suffering the struggles of the damned and blind. And therein lies Kydd's gift, the ability to realistically portray both the endless human capacity for hope and love amid a life of sorrow and loss. His ability to reconcile this paradox and juxtapose hope and despair in the same poem is what makes his work so compelling. As in his previous work, Kydd shows wide range. In By the Pale Moonlight he describes the moon as simultaneously, "A barren desolate environment of rock...a bureaucratic reason to spend billions...a beacon showing lovers the way to the heart..." and, finally, with tongue in cheek, "...an excuse for a poem's subject matter." Kydd understands illusion well, and the theme runs throughout his work. Oh God Dear God presents a typical happy family, then bluntly and unexpectedly shocks at the end. He speaks often of the mirage of money and power, and of the soul losing its way in pursuit of illusory happiness. Yet in the end he always gives hope. In Star Bright he may say sarcastically, "Lactose intolerant to your Mama's tit, " as he depicts the fate of the outcast. But in Rings of Fire he promises, "Life has blessed us one to another in this day of our love." In The Shadow of a Friend Kydd says, "You know my dear Sister. Haven't you looked upon her face? You call her Life. I am her Brother. To you I am Death. Come, be one with me." It is the mark of his maturity as a poet that Kydd is able to help the reader reconcile life with death, and accept our fate as human beings.