Ambiguous Parables explores those regions of experience we pass through, sometimes holding our breath or nervously whistling a merry tune, but more often caught up in inexplicable emotions we'd rather come to grips with than avoid. The loss of a loved one is a prime example, and one sequence of poems contains the poet's responses to his mother's death. At the other end of the spectrum are whimsical poems such as The Man in the Hat, in which Bowman first recognizes and then embraces the fact that the dog barking at him repeatedly as he walks by recognizes him because of his hat. There are poems about care-giving, and one about a grandfather helping a grandson sort acorns.
Such experiences aren't novel, but Bowman has a knack for pausing at just the right moment to take a second look around. Some of the poems are delightful. Others elicit awe. Again and again, in deceptively simple phrases, he summons the frisson we feel when confronted with life's pain, while simultaneously being reminded of the gift we have been given--of life and presence. As poet Deborah Cooper describes the collection: These are poems of wondering, brushing up against the edge of mystery, poems that reach toward acceptance of all we cannot grasp... And, even as they grapple with grief and disillusionment, these are poems of hope. The threads of tenderness and gratitude run through these pages, holding the chaos gently.