Lean Toward the Light is a summing up of a person who is physically old but young in mind and heart. The easy answers of youth are handed back to whatever takes them and the huge sense of wonder walks in to replace it. There is also the realization that other animals have been misunderstood and underestimated. No one died and left us in charge.
Godbey's work has been praised by both well-known poets and Facebook readers. Robert Bly and US Poet Laureate Donald Hall praised his work and taught him. Godbey was a festival Poet for the Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts. He was the winner of a poetry contest by the Bellefonte Museum of Art. More importantly, perhaps, a recent reader of this manuscript said: "Astounding."
In Godbey's poetry, each thing has a voice. A rock finally speaks. Grief tells the griever why she is there. The muse, a little fat guy in a pink tutu, tells the poet to get on the stick. Each thing talks. The color brown speaks of being like the youngest child whose birthday is forgotten. The dialectic between experiencing beauty and despair are brought into sharp focus. This poetry is not either-or but rather both-and. Always, Godbey strives for the beautiful-for leaning toward the light.
