The Sauntering

The Sauntering, an epic-length poem, chronicles a lifetime of walking across the landscapes of this planet, the author always being compelled to move forward to the next horizon. From his early connections with his heritage, to coping with grief as a young teenager after his father’s death, to immersion in a tapestry of cultures and the natural world and poetry itself, Zev Levinson discovers how the search for meaning sometimes becomes meaning enough. His obsession to ramble reflects an openness to the unending pathways that life presents. Ultimately, Zev shows that to be truly alive is its own creation of ceaseless topographies.

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Praise for The Sauntering

“Poet Zev Levinson’s second book, The Sauntering, is aptly named. Levinson’s autobiographical, book-length poem embodies the act of walking, permeated with a quiet stillness and with the consistent rhythm of quatrains that journey us through boyhood, the tragic death of a parent, and even love. This meditative tale offers us a sense of one poet’s growth through the transformative principles of forward motion, the presence of ritualistic faith, and a deep connection to the natural world. It is a true adventure to be able to go on this trip of many trips with Levinson. How many are given a chance to touch the Sphinx in Egypt, then almost be killed by a fall from a very different stone in the space of a few pages? Levinson says, ‘The walking is the breath of all’ and we are brought alive with each breath as we engage with the vivid lines and unquestionable spiritual and emotional sustenance of this book.”

—Jennifer Militello, Poet Laureate of New Hampshire, author of The Pact

“Like William Wordsworth, Zev Levinson has a vision that is both regenerative and transcendent. Here Levinson carries us on as much a spiritual journey as a physical one as he searches for healing and wholeness and, dare I say, salvation. Sometimes painful, sometimes restorative, The Sauntering is a book that confronts what it means to be mortal and to recognize one’s inevitable place in the world.”

—Terry L. Kennedy, author of What the Light Leaves Hidden

“Levinson’s book-length poem, The Sauntering, is a hypnotic journey on a literal and metaphorical walking trail. The narrator draws on spiritual tradition, familial loss, and a life of books to form meaning from the act of walking itself. With visceral rhythms, Levinson transcends the personal and connects his reader to the geography of an expanded world—a poet who, if he had the means, would ‘walk the world entire.’ ”

—Jessica Cuello, author of Liar and Yours, Creature