Otterstrom is a prolific writer, and thus Move On comes as a continuation, a moving onward and forward, of a lifetime of writing poetry. It is a deeply introspective work, where the poet exposes his inner world to the reader. He does this by taking us through a little over a year of his life, starting on April 6, 2018, and providing autobiographical reflections. For examples, the poem “Stages” discusses a recent illness for which he was treated in California. Other poems, such as “June 18, 2018,” provide snapshots of sights and places in Costa Rica, where Otterstrom makes his home. These poems contain a stream of consciousness type of quality, which is both satisfying to the reader, as ideas flow seamlessly one into another, but also challenging, as real focus is needed to fully experience the poetry.

All in all, these poems express a cry for peace, for the simpler life. Thus, there is a spiritual quality to them, sometimes subtle and sometimes front and center, as can be attested in poems such as “A Sharp Sword.” Indeed, in Move On poetry is identified as a calling, a form of revelation even. Not surprisingly, the language of scripture is weaved into the fabric of the poems in the same way that other poets echo their own artistic traditions.

This introspective, spiritual approach to poetry allows Otterstrom to look back at his life and forward at eternity (“…present is / past as each second we step / into a future eternity…”). And this is one of the key contributions of this book: it reaffirms a worldview where the spiritual and the material worlds are really one which is manifest every day in simple and unexpected ways.

— From the foreword by Gabriel González Núñez
Soft Cover.