In an era where poetry often retreats into abstraction, Victor Stringer's debut collection, Lingering Light: 80 Poems, grounds itself in the tangible: a child's question about ducks, a broken heart charm held on a beach, a soldier's plea to politicians. Published by American Publishers Empire on July 19, 2026, the collection is now available worldwide on Amazon in Kindle, Paperback, and Hardcover editions.
The title, Lingering Light, encapsulates the book's central thesis: some feelings do not fade when the moment passes. They persist, resurface, and shape who we become. Stringer, a poet, veteran, and father, has structured the collection into seven thematic sections, each a distinct landscape of human experience. The book opens with 'Love & Romance,' featuring poems like 'Being With You,' which traverses Central Park, the Eiffel Tower, and Montego Bay to capture the essence of belonging. It then moves into 'Loss, Heartbreak & Emotional Darkness,' where 'Two Sides of a Broken Heart' follows a man who returns to a shared beach, still holding the two halves of a charm, unable to let go.
The collection's middle sections turn inward and outward. 'Childhood, Family & Innocence' draws from real moments with his young children, including 'Daddy, Will You Blow My Chicken,' a poem composed entirely of a three-year-old's questions—about the moon's hiding place and Spanish-speaking ducks. 'Spirituality, Reflection & Inner Peace' slows the pace, with 'Yogi Time' depicting a meditation encounter with a golden light that reminds the poet of unfinished work. 'Journey, Memory & Place' uses travel as a lens for processing the unspoken, while 'Identity, Existence & Philosophical Questions' asks what remains when roles like lover, father, soldier, and believer fall away.
The most striking section is 'War, Struggle & Warrior Energy,' drawn from Stringer's military service. 'A Young Warrior's Request!' is a direct address to politicians, voiced from the ground by someone who must live with decisions he did not make. This section, along with the others, underscores the collection's refusal to offer easy answers. Instead, Stringer insists on honesty—writing what actually happened or what it felt like, rather than what sounds impressive. As he states, 'What unifies this collection is not one subject. It is a voice that keeps chasing the same thing across very different rooms of a life: something true, something that outlasts the moment it was written in.'
The book closes with a section of lighter, experimental pieces, including 'Irish Dancer' and 'A Pirate's Life for Me,' proving that even a collection built on hard-won honesty can embrace play. Lingering Light is available on Amazon in Kindle, Paperback (ISBN: 9781971232577), and Hardcover (ISBN: 9781971232584). For more information, visit Victor Stringer's website.
In a literary landscape often dominated by the fleeting, Stringer's collection offers a lingering presence—a reminder that the most profound truths are often found in the moments we carry with us, long after they've passed.
