Poems Books

Award-winning poet Nance Van Winckel presents No Starling, a brief yet evocative selection of poems utilizing a variety of rhythms and soundscapes. Subtly community-building in its reminders of human responsibilities for each other and the world at large, No Starling touches upon spiritual and political issues alike, singing aloud in a crystal clear voice that deserves to be heard. "Leastways": The ship had a bar, listing. A porthole / awash. Loyal drinkers swearing they'd seen / the giant squid. Sheer genius, they said, / to survive the millennia, the depths. // I blinked into that window at only / my face... all splash and dissolve. // Days under the white sails, over / cruel swells. Days taken / like aspirin. Hard little fact / of the body: if it goes down, / I go. And the bar raised. The bar / tilted. A tentacles here-on portends / a hereafter. I hang on. Rain clouds / pretend to take the lead.

No Starling is the fifth book of Van Winckel's poems I've read over the years (Bad Girl, with Hawk, The Dirt, After A Spell, Beside Ourselves) and is a dazzling demonstration of her mature poetic skills.
Take, for instance, the poem "Passing Through the Shadows of Great Buildings": "The beggar in plaid blankets wanted to kiss my hand / when it lowered the shiny franc. His eyes sleepy, pleading. // How long would I stand there considering...the metal / warming, the light waning. My hand dangling...." Compressed, potent, telling. Just two couplets!
Like in her fiction (Quake, Curtain Creek Farm), in No Starling Van Winckel interweaves and propels multiple narratives from poem to poem, chapter to chapter. The epigraph to her book reads, in part: "My coming, / my going -- / Two simple happenings / that got entangled." Van Winckel weaves her way through these "entanglements" of life using myth and parable, folktale and dream to inform her poems' elucidations, indictments, portents.
Moreover, in these times of political shapeshifting, of national chauvinism/denial, Van Winckel's poems like "The Rattled Hymn of the Republic" and "Let Us Remind You You Are Still Under Oath" seem especially pertinent . They are brave and unflinching. They speak truth.
Finally, though, no matter the poem, it's Van Winckel's imaginative leaps (and the heights to which those leaps rise) that amaze and awe. From the likes of the primordial love-poem "White Bridges, White Mistresses" to the heart-wrenching "Winter Cow," you can't believe what you just read - where you began, where you ended -- so you re-read. And again and again, No Starling rewards you.

Nance Van Winckel splits literary and existential hairs with the confidence of a master. Her poetry teases fear and denial with equal insouciance. I was captive, once I began reading, as the poems pulled me each to the next with growing delight. Her ability to distill the humor from the macabre, the everyday from the awful and the transcendent from the everyday is delivered with incredible control and, though it may sound strange to note, with humility. This poet's voice doesn't boom, it whispers and shimmers and runs like a river through so many aspects of this earthly life: the personal, the literary, the ways of nature and politics. And yet, as she dances in darkness, the effect of reading Nance Van Winckel is one of inspiration, for she comes back, again and again, to the power of work, of observation, of showing up. She never shirks from the job, as in the poem "Waking, Working" where she describes the visceral call of unfinished business: "Already then there was this idea/ of work. The body moving like a scythe/ over its broad gold day."

All of Nance Van Winckel's books of poetry demonstrate her unique blend of keen, precise wording and insight mixed with vibrant imaginative leaps (balancing artfully, as Stevens would say, imagination and reason). But if you only purchase one poetry collection this year, buy Van Winckel's latest, No Starling, which is a truly breathtaking book. The collection begins with the poem "Slate," where the speaker is hauling a dead body named "Nance" to be dumped in a quarry. This kind of premise--surreal, edgy, with slivers of humor--is characteristic Van Winckel, complete with her usual dead-on images, impeccable sonics, and profound revelations. Where she shows her particular genius is how she can stretch a poem to absurdist limits, yet deftly reel it back to a warm, universal conclusion, as in "The Winter Cow." The poem begins with a cow standing in a frozen field with all four of its hooves sawed off (it's not explained why), and moves to a boy arriving to very tenderly milk her; the boy hums while doing so, as he fears he can't sing without weeping. Here's the final stanza:

The body is a great boat that knows the way
through iced blue distances. Gravity's small hands
tug at the hull. You get in
and you close your eyes, and you go.

There are so many exquisite moments like this one in the book, I couldn't possibly list them all. Clearly, Van Winckel has paid serious attention to structure, as themes reverberate from section to section. For instance, "water" and "shore" are both used metaphorically (though differently) in the closings of two of my favorites, "Mister" and "Verlaine in Prison." Death is another theme, found mainly in a fine cluster of poems in section one. No matter what the theme, though, Van Winckel's verbal dexterity and wisdom abound throughout.

Suffice it to say, I read this book from start to finish in one sitting because I couldn't wait to see--from page to page, line to line--how Van Winckel would dazzle me next. There seems to me not one wrong move or weak moment in the entire book. No Starling is simply stunning.

As a social studies and history teacher of teens, I highly recommend letting Gil-Scott Heron address the problems of racism, class and propaganda to your students. My freshmen understood and appreciated "Whitey on the Moon" when we were looking at decisions the federal government made during the Civil Rights years and beyond.

Gil Scott-Heron's lyrics and poetry are harsh, sharp and painfully to-the-point in the description of his time and age. Fifty years from now, he will be seen as the guy who really spoke the truth, televised or not.

If you are an old fan of Gil Scott-Heron, then you will really enjoy this book. It is a wonderful collection of his work.

In a Fair World Gil Scott-Heron would Get His Full Props for the way His Mind Works.The Man Covers so Much Here.He Captures so Much&Keeps it straight all the way.this Should Be a Must in any School System&places of Learning Period.

"Life like a dome of many colored glass stains the white radiance of eternity"

"If winter comes, can spring be far behind."

"My name is Oxymandias ,king of kings
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!'
Nothing beside remains.Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away."

This excellent collection contains many of the most well- known of Shelley's poems, including 'Ode to the West Wind' 'Oxymandias' ' The Cloud' 'Adonais' ' To a Skylark" "Written in Dejection, Near Naples" "Hymn to Intellectual Beauty" "Sonnet" England in 1819"

It contains some of the intensely musical and visionary verse of one of the most wild and revolutionary English Romantics. Shelley never gripped my mind and heart as Wordworth has , but the undeniable beauty of some of his powerful lines sings in my mind ( and I believe will sing in the mind of most readers) to this day.

"O Wild West Wind ,thou Breath of Autumn's Being
Thou, from unseen presence the leaves dead
Are driven, like ghosts from an enchanter fleeting "

Shelley is one of the greatest English-language poets the world has ever known. Contained in this Dover edition are some of the finest examples of his work: Ozymandias; his two poetic elegies, Lines Written among the Euganean Hills and Adonais; and his depiction of his relationship with Byron, Julian and Maddalo. These poems, and the others in this edition, offer an excellent introduction to Percy Shelley, and thus to Romanticism as a whole. This is the best dollar that you will ever spend.

This inexpensive Dover edition, Selected Poems - Percy Bysshe Shelley, offers a good introduction to Shelley's wide ranging poetry. These thirty-seven poems, arranged chronologically from 1814-1822, span about 125 pages. The large font makes for easy reading. No footnotes are provided.

I have read this Dover edition several times in the last several years as well as two other short selections of Shelley's poetry. Despite my growing familiarity with his poems, I still find Shelley to be decidedly more challenging than Keats, Wordsworth, Coleridge, or Byron.

This increased difficulty is especially evident in Shelley's longer poems. Like me, many readers are likely to become initially disoriented and confused by Shelley's layered and embedded metaphors. Fortunately, with a bit of persistence, careful attention, and multiple readings, most readers will become proficient in unraveling, and appreciating, Shelley's intricate patterns of connected imagery.

This Dover edition includes six of these longer, more challenging poems (even the titles are lengthy): Lines Written among the Euganean Hills (1818), Julian and Maddalo: A Conversation (1818), The Mask of Anarchy - Written on the Occasion of the Massacre at Manchester (1819), Letter to Maria Gisborne (1820), Epipsychidion (1821) - Verses Addressed to the Noble and Unfortunate Lady, Emilia Viviani Imprisoned in the Convent of -----, and Adonais - An Elegy on the Death of John Keats, Author of Endymion, Hyperion, etc.

The remaining thirty-one poems range from a dozen lines to a couple pages. I suggest that the reader new to Shelley focus on shorter poems, reserving the longer excursions for later. The four poems Ozymandias, The Cloud, Ode to the West Wind, and To Night make a good starting point.

This is a wonderful collection of Shelley's greatest poems. I checked it out of the library and was tempted never to return it.

I really enjoyed this book. The poems and essays are diverse, fun, thoughtful and extremely well written.

This is a beautiful, sometimes funny, always thought-provoking book about frogs and toads. I gave a copy to my sister who is a 7th grade biology teacher and she has used it in some of her classes. Many of her students loved it. It's a wonderful little book to keep around when you need to read something to relax your mind. Everyone I've given a copy to has been delighted with it.

A friend sent me this as a gift. I couldn't have been more pleased. There is something in here to suit every taste, from poignant to humorous. And all about FROGS! (Well, maybe a salamander and a newt here and there, but all little Rana creatures.) What a clever idea for a poetry anthology.

What a great collection! If you like frogs (and who doesn't?) and poetry (and you should if you don't), you'll love this book. I keep a supply on hand for presents, have given away a dozen already. This is a wonderful book to keep on your bedside reading table, read a poem or two a night, go to sleep with lilting lines and green splashes in your dreams.

I have just "discovered" this poet and reading his poetry over and over again means rediscovering language, sound, wit, and everything else that I love about poetry. I consider his language Old English, with pastoral themes in a post-modern context. Very interesting.

"MC-S is an Englishman who has worked in the US for some years and perhaps the transatlantic shift underwrites the quick-change dialect of these poems--they ARE dialect poems of a kind, although they skate across a variety of vernaculars; grammar fractures without undue force, fragments of older written English float through. Quasi-folk-rhymes break up narratives, the 'songs' seem ghosts of untold stories. The title sequence formalises the multivocality by identifying speakers in the manner of a play, introducing a disjointedness I feel uneasy with; there is a more flowing transition from the opening Songs to the impressive closing sequence To Absent Minister. Good balance between sound-control and unruliness. I can't identify all the voices and prefer the mystery of it anyway, but Clare keeps turning up (rhythms and textures of the journals rather than the poems) and I hear David Jones now and again. And nice to meet Mr. Beddoes on page 16.

For some tastes, the playful mode of nonsense verse which Corless-Smith often engages in might wear thin. Yet with a little patience (and a dictionary), even the most dense passages prove inventive and rich. The style of Of Piscator is highly original, and even idiosyncratic. Given this fact, it adapts to a remarkable emotional range

It's as if the poet managed the almost impossible: to make contemporary techniques combine with the traditional in such a way that he turns on his head both the old and the new. If the Charles Bernsteins and Bruce Andrews of the Language poets make you long for song, for feeling of the old poetries, you must turn to Martin Corless-Smith. You will not miss the disjunctive, discordant alogical manipulations of contemporary poets, but you will also hear the rich sounds of a language achieved by a poet who is as steeped in the solid rhythms of Old English monosyllables--"hound heavens house"--as in the sonorities of Chaucer...It is that retention of music in his lines that makes Corless-Smith a most uncanny, original postmodern poet, singing the contradiction and disorders of the millennium.

It is hard to find much from or about Beecher in print, so this collection certainly fills a void. The Whitman comparisons are legit, and this book provides a solid overview of his work.

John Beecher taught that poetry can literally save your life. It was certainly true in his own case. These poems were written by a man who, given the choice of signing a loyalty oath or being true to himself, knew what to do. Steven Ford Brown, who knows Beecher's work better than anyone else, is the perfect editor for this volume. Grab it while you can.

My computer ate up and so vanished my thoughts on John Beecher. Let suffice: I knew him from 1978 to his death two years later. I put his name in Amazon slot to see what would come up. Except for this new book, (thank you dear Studs) I must say I have been disappointed at how little interest apparently exist in reprinting his other books--especially that interested one in 1955 a long narrative poem on abortion. Where are the researchers? He should have a biography by some clever whip smart student of social protest writers from the 1920's to the Seventies. I think it is right to say he and I were friends--said we were fellow New Englanders. I believed in him in the time of his last roar, as person-brave, writer-truthful, and I still do. Particularly today. JB lived a full life in his time--no icon he!

For anyone who doesn't know about John Beecher, he was THE American social protest poet. (He died in 1980) His poetry is not technically complex, it's far from high art, but that's the point: it's poetry for common people about common people. His voice of protest is so heavily laden with the truth that it's impossible to ignore. In one poem in the book, he describes how standing up for the right thing isn't hard when you accept what the right thing is and don't accept anything less - in a world where money interests rule so many parts of life, Beecher's is a much needed voice.

What a pleasant surprise to find new poetry that is carefully crafted, intelligent, and genuinely moving. If only more poets writing today took their craft as seriously. I hope Mehigan is working on a second book!

Had we a genuine literary culture I believe The Optimist, the debut collection of Joshua Mehigan, would enjoy the reception accorded Delmore Schwartz's "In Dreams Begin Responsibilities" in 1938. These are poems of expressive, never hide-bound formality. In "A Questionable Mother" the realization that every perfectly modulated line of blank verse has a feminine ending can make one laugh out loud, yet also, together with the ghost of a refrain, contributes to a growing unease.
"Promenade" furnishes Mehigan with a hilarious excuse for an overripe rhetoric, as it appears to be a dramatic monologue for a fatuous, middle-aged bachelor, ending on a beautiful, nonsense mock-aphorism. This poem's companion piece could be the brilliant "Another Pygmalion". Both evince the poet's eclat, somehow reckless and modest at the same time. "Promenade" is written in rhyming couplets, yet so sinuously and with such a sure touch at enjambment that the effect is rather peekaboo than Pope and "Another Pygmalion" although printed in a solid block reveals itself to be written in perfect, albeit run-over, terza rima. "A Bird at the Leather Mill" has the eerie quality of a parable by Kierkegaard or Kafka. "Buzzards" feels like it may have its origin in family anecdote, but also reminds this reader of the underappreciated metaphysical lyrics of Leonie Adams. In this poem and many others he can be moving, "In the Home of my Sitter", "The Optimist", "Introduction to Poetry" among them.
That Mr. Mehigan can write such tender, bitter, ruefully comic scenes of upstate New York working-class life and also write very good poems with titles such as "Imperative of the Minor Florentine Chapel" and "Alexandra", about a fourth century anchoress, testifies to his range.
The collection's title may seem sarcastic after so many cynical chuckles, but after closing this book on the lovely "Merrily", I am reminded that stoicism and existentialism are positive philosophies.
I have a personal ascending scale for poetic worth. These poems are worth reading, rereading, memorizing, and then repeating.

Joshua Mehigan, America's premier younger poet, has a rare combination of gifts: a flawless ear and an eye for the eerily right detail. In poem after poem, he startles the reader with images that seem drawn as much from nightmare as from life. For example, in the haunting poem "The Pig Roast," a farmhand about to slaughter a pig exhibits a surprising tenderness before pulling the trigger: "Outside, the farmhand closed his day. He crouched / beside the rifle hanging from the fence / and scratched the pig's broad head, then slowly rose / as though he'd left a teacup balanced there." It is hard to imagine a more apt and beautiful way to describe the fragile gesture that the farmhand's next action will shatter.

Sometimes Mehigan's imagery borders on the grotesque and comical, as in the dreamlike "Merrily," where a Rimbaud-like speaker, drifting downstream, remarks on the mesmerizing scenery in a series of bewildered questions: "West, through the trees' meshed crowns, light scattering / toward such specific ends! Why those? And why / these flexed roots? Why that oak's failed rendering / of coupled elephants in living wood?"

Perhaps the most memorable image in the book appears at the conclusion of the opening poem, "Promenade," when the wind at an outdoor wedding in Queens creates a climactic spectacle that is both grittily urban and wittily urbane: "Every face turns to look; / and when the bride's tall orange bun's unpinned / by ordinary, inconvenient wind, / all, in the breath it takes a yard of hair / to blaze like lighted aerosol, would swear/ there was no greater miracle in Queens. / Wish is the word that sounds like what wind means."

Good luck trying to forget that last line. Now go buy the book and discover for yourself why Joshua Mehigan is already a poet for the ages.

Optimism means the tendency to hope for the best. It is possible that Joshua Mehigan wrote this book hoping that it would be liked by many. So far, many critics have enjoyed this book.
He uses violence and cruelty, and adds in a sense of humor. His writing in brilliant and he is extremely talented. Although his work portrays some violence and cruelty, his work qualifies as
mysterious. The word optimist meaning a hope for the best coincides with his work. Possibly, when writing about "A Questionable Mother" or "Last Chance at Reconciliation", the hope was that the mothers daughter would be found or that reconciliation could be a factor for this certain man. These
two are not only the two poems that deal with hope. They all do in some way. The Optimist contains poems on different subjects such as the weather, a house fire, noise pollution, murder,
suicide, love, ideal love and reconciliation. These poems contain themes such as suicide and death. "An Ideal Passion" almost seems like a poem about a guy who is stalking this woman. He loves this woman whom he can not have and dreams of her. The poem "Riddle" is set up as a riddle. It leaves the reader to figure out what exactly the poet is talking about or of whom. "The Murder" had a deep impact on myself as the reader. The last line "The way to a woman's heart is through her chest" left me uneasy. "Post Partum" deals with depression after the birth of a baby. I would recommend that everyone take the time to read Joshua Mehigans book. He converts deep emotion into powerful art. The language he uses creates power over the reader, that one can't help but keep reading. This book overall, was very good. It is the first of many to come.

This is a great read. I had just heard of Mary's work and ordered quite few of her books. They are all wonderful. She has such a wonderful way to look at nature and the world in general.

OUR WORLD BY MARY OLIVER IS A MEMOIR AND A TRIBUTE TO MS. OLIVER'S LONG TIME PARTNER AND FRIEND WHO WAS A PHOTOGRAPHER OF NOTE. MANY OF MS. OLIVER'S PARTNER'S PHOTOS ARE INCLUDED IN THIS BOOK. FOR THOSE WHO APPRECIATE MS. OLIVER'S POETRY, THERE ARE NOT MANY POEMS IN THIS MEMOIR. IT IS A THOROUGHLY ENJOYABLE BOOK, HOWEVER, AND ONE THAT GIVES THE READER A GLIMPSE INTO HER PRIVATE WORLD.

ANNA M. SEIDLER

Simply the name Mary Oliver causes a shift in my countenance and my being. My steps are different when I am present to who she is as a writer and human being, so it shouldn't surprise me, what happened this morning.

I was minding my own business walking across my local bookstore when I heard the sound of wind rushing from my mouth. It was like the jolt happened so quickly my brain couldn't quite orient around the words, "Our World" and the names Mary Oliver and Molly Malone Cook.

I had no choice. I had to stop all my other book plans and sit with this one, just be with it, soak it in, allow it to do its work on my soul as I knew intuitively it would.

Last winter I became the self-appointed one woman marketing machine for Mary Oliver's "Thirst" - a collection of poetry written as she grieved the loss of her life partner, Molly Malone Cook, someone who I never knew yet felt I knew through reading Oliver's work. I stood at a bookstore crying as I read that book, sobbing, openly - aching and simultaneously being stunned by the beauty of the poetry.

Now, in this volume, not only do I have words - I have Molly Malone Cook's photography.

It is like being invited into the most intimate chambers of a lifetime soul-love affair. It is deeply personal, extremely intense memoir of love. That energy is on each page as Oliver builds a model of appreciation for Molly Malone Cook for us all to follow.

Now, the "other" juicy stuff - photos by Molly Malone Cook that show a deep love and appreciation of books, of learning, of activism, of art and of the "faces of the world" - one of her early childhood ambitions, so it tells us in the text "was to see every face in America."

Well, in these photographs "every" face is, indeed, communicated.

We see photographers, playwrights, restaurateurs, activists and places the writers and artists among us dream about seeing.

There are too many numerous memorable quotes to share here - and I don't want to take away your own discovery of words that speak directly to you.

I know I will be forever grateful for the work of Mary Oliver and this volume amplifies that gratitude by bringing Molly Malone Cook to life for me in a more vivid way than in the past.

I can only hope there will be many more opportunities for my heart and breath to be swept away, simply by seeing this author's name on a book jacket.

I just loved this book. Somehow it opened an intimate window into the life of Molly Malone Cook, without ever disrespecting the sacred nature of her life. Mary Oliver does this with grace. They clearly shared their lives together, yet still kept their individuality intact. Mary Oliver remarks, towards the end of the book, on her own recognised gift for attention. She goes on to pay tribute to Molly for teaching her this: "attention without feeling, I began to learn, is only a report. An openess - an empathy - was necessary is the attention was to matter." This tribute inspires me to continue the journey towards greater presence in my life.

I find this book a wonderful introduction to art for children. It is inspiring, and delightful. I love especially how in some of the works of Art chosen by Mrs. Rowden , she identifies colors with music and instruments. It truly makes the paintings come alive. It is a beautiful book, and one that I would highly recommend to all my students!

These simple, energetic poems dance, bounce, and swirl across the pages, drawing even the youngest kids in, making them laugh and use their imaginations. A fun way to expose kids to classic paintings (as well as poetry), letting them find enjoyment in the unfamiliar and surprise in the ordinary. What a pleasure to see children as young as three pointing to the pictures and finding their own "poetic" words. A great circle time book or gift.

I was so enthralled by this book's unusual and dramatically successful approach to great art that I ordered four copies, one each for my four grandchildren. Glad I did, since already each child has strong favorites among original poems and great reproductions contained in this beautiful, technically flawless book. I only regret I haven't yet ordered a copy for myself!

The rythmic simplicity of the poems should reach young readers and help them to appreciate a work of art. The choice and use of colors with the different poems should help the young reader to retain both the images and the vocabulary. In all, I found Paint Me a Poem by Justine Rowden to be a very interesting and enjoyable experience.

This book was very relaxing to read. The poetry is very visual and it's almost like you are standing there with the author. It's fascinating. Each poem offers a new sight to see. I would recommend this book to anyone who loves poetry.

"Pardon Us Ms. Writer" is the most exciting and interesting poetry book I have ever read. Within it are pages of beautiful poetry that address topics like art and nature. This book also addresses the important topics of avoiding stereotypes and taking pride in yourself. This isn't just a literary delight, but it makes you feel better about yourself and gives you valuable insights into life. The poems aren't only serious though, there are also poems of wit and words to make you smile. Not only are the subjects great, but the poems flow so smoothly that they seem to float like music on the ear. The poet's faith and views on equality emerge from these beautiful words. This book is not to be missed! It is a classic in the making and reminds me of some of Robert Frost's poems. Buy one today and tell all you know about it!

Wow! This is a wonderful book of poetry. It will make you smile, laugh, think, and inspire you The poet has an amazing talent for bringing words to life and painting pictures with the words, enabling you to see what she has seen. The opening poem is written so cleverly, that the words themselves become characters in the book - taking you on poetic journeys and providing insights into the journeys of life. Pardon us Ms. Writer has poems for all ages and all time. I love this book and heartily recommend it to others. It would make a great gift. I'm looking forward to reading more books by Megan Easley-Walsh. Her writings are superb!

First off, I really liked this book. Infact I loved it! What puts me off poetry is how poor it can be but this book, the poems are awesome in it! They are well written and if your looking for a cool little poetry book, I think you should get this one. What I really like about the poems is how descriptive and elegant they are. Something about them just seems to flow. I commute to work each day on the train and this book of poems is a great way of diving in for a quick poetry break on the train. The poet is a classic in the making. I can't wait until she has another book out!