Although the cover and some of the epigraphs would indicate focus on Crazy Horse and the lost Lakota way of life, John B. Lee's latest collection of verse, The Last Stand, touches on matters much more complex.
At a first reading, it appears to be a lamentation, an agonized retrospection of a place now lost, ground down not just by time, but by the adversity imposed its own natural processes of existing. It can be perceived as melancholy, weeping for what had been, with a subtle challenge for the reader to evaluate whether what has gone before was worth anything of value, and whether the transience of life, whatever its form, has any meaning whatsoever in the Grand Scheme,
It takes at least a second reading, and maybe a third or even more, for the reader to discern and acknowledge its underlying premise that all things, animate and inanimate, must change, including the reader's attitude toward what can be gleaned from what has gone before. The collection highlights that "The Great American West" was grand and sordid at the same time, and it requires the maturity and openness of the reader to appreciate the dichotomy.
John expresses in a few lines, emotions beyond the capacity of a novelist or essayist, of anyone but a true poet.
F. W. Abel
Author of the
From Slave to Soldier
series of novels
After reading, pondering and enjoying this little, but not so trivial, contribution to CanLit I decided to propose this afterword to John. We agreed that I should place it here at the end of the book. The first thing that I wanted to comment on was the title. I found it to be a fitting and poignant choice, reflecting the author's introspection on the enduring legacy of history, culture, and memory tied to iconic and sacred sites in America's West. Each poem questions the established narratives of famous historical moments and individuals, asking readers to reconsider the ideas of heroism, conquest, and cultural significance through a deeply reflective lens. The poems explore the legacy of battles, the monumental figures associated with them, and the contrasting cultural values held by Indigenous and European settler societies.
