The lost chimes, and other poems

The lost chimes of this collection ring out from a vanished world, their music both haunted and haunting. At its center stands Sordino, a noble Florentine whose search for perfect tone becomes a meditation on beauty, loss, and the shadows falling across early 20th century Europe. These poems move between the joy of creation and the weight of destruction, between tender love and the absence it leaves behind. Melby's language is lush and operatic, each verse structured like a bell: precise, resonant, and impossible to ignore once struck. The war's impact reverberates through lines that understand how profoundly violence interrupts the musical soul. For readers who believe poetry should be heard as much as read, who seek verse that engages both heart and ear, this collection offers something rare: poetry that understands the deep connection between perfect sound and perfect sorrow.