David K. Leff, Essayist, Poet, Lecturer

Orb Weaver (poem)

Gossamer strands roping a post
to a rhododendron, a spider sets up shop
on my porch, sits in a silken galaxy
of concentric threads and radiating
spokes, not knowing
what his weir in the wind will catch.

Spidery patience outlasts this lottery
of fated sticky filaments almost invisible
but for beads of morning dew,
or slanted streams of late afternoon sun.
I check the catch while sipping an early coffee,
or tilting a twilight bottle of beer.

We may fear eight legs, but time
becomes an elaborate web we weave
as years pass, a net of stranded yearnings.
How we fret over our harvest of hours,
until discovering hope’s necessity
caught like insects in a latticework of dreams.

New Lives for Old Rail Stations

Orphaned Rail Stations
Orphaned railroad stations are transformers, changelings. If not, they don’t survive. Designed with a specific purpose in particular locations, new uses after railroad days are over may require inventive, even inspired redesign. When visiting an old rail depot reborn as something else you never know what you’ll  find.

From the mid nineteenth to the mid twentieth century these buildings were the principal portal to places large and small, lifelines to the outside world. Raw materials came in by rail and finished products were shipped out. Trains brought people from far away speaking myriad languages, bringing vibrant diversity and hands and minds to labor on farms and in factories, as well as visitors eager to see new places. Tracks are long gone in many smaller communities, and even where trains still run the stations are often vestigial structures in an age where there are no longer station masters, ticket counters, and baggage handlers.

The Breach: Voices Haunting a New England Mill Town

Homebound Publications | 2019 | 162 pages | ISBN 11947003402

SILVER MEDAL winner for BEST NORTHEAST REGIONAL FICTION from the Independent Publisher Book Awards (IPPY), GRAND PRIZE SHORT LIST and HONORABLE MENTION for POETRY from the Eric Hoffer Book Award

Imagine walls could actually talk as a New England factory community faces closure of its signature mill due to environmental contamination and foreign competition.  This story of politics, family life, competing redevelopment schemes, gossiping locals, and a mother fiercely protecting her children is told in the voice of common objects—from the church steeple clock to a Bridgeport milling machine to an umbrella.  They witness a bit of drinking, sex, a suicide, and the hopes and dreams of the human beings around them.  How did these everyday things find their voice?  Readers may never again look at the ordinary objects around them the same.

What People are Saying about this Book

“What a trove of small town Americana David Leff has given us!”

Rennie McQuilkin, CT Poet Laureate (2015-2018)

“This is among the most original and compelling works I’ve ever read."

John Stanizzi, author of Hallelujah Time and Ecstasy Among Ghosts

“Leff, deserves kudos for bringing such striking and original material to light.”

Sydney Lea, Vermont Poet Laureate (2011-2015)

The Breach is a book to savor.

Susan Merrow, former Sierra Club National Board of Directors president

For More about The Breach go to: https://davidkleff.typepad.com/home/2018/11/explore-the-mysteries-of-the-breach.html

Available Wherever Books are Sold Including
Homebound Publications at https://homeboundpublications.square.site/product/the-breach-by-david-k-leff/84?cs=true