Poetry Books

THRIVE! is a wake-up call to the fact that there is nothing more important than our spiritual health. Tackling issues such as self-acceptance, forgiveness and rejection head-on, we are encouraged to honestly and finally deal with our issues!

Felicia T. Scott has captured the essence of what it takes to survive this existence we call "Life". 'Thrive!' is a lifeline to anyone who is sinking into the depths of despair, despondency and discouragement. Thank you Ms. Scott for not only feeding us with nourishing words of wisdom but also showing us how to prepare our own meals!

Felicia Scott is a truthteller who spurs you to action. She has a matter of fact way of presenting issues and solutions that actually empowers the reader. Thrive! is a must-read, especially for that person looking to grow and is willing to turn within to experience their own greatness. --Cheryl Smith, KKDA-AM, Dallas, TX

Felicia Scott's book provides an eloquent, insightful and humorous pathway to those who seek guidance down life's rocky road. She maps out a no-nonsense guide on how to deal with issues-she inspires us to take control, get over it-and move on. Ms. Scott's beautiful poetry is an added bonus. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is feeling sorry for themselves-you will feel empowered to move on by the end of the book.

THRIVE! 7 Strategies for Extraordinary Living is like the perfect blend of WOMAN THOU ART LOOSED and CHICKEN SOUP FOR THE WOMAN'S SOUL. It will capture the heart of every woman who felt she was the only one going through and assure her that she can overcome; she can rise to every occasion. Yes, she can survive! In fact, she can do more than that - she can Thrive!

Ms. Scott, thank you for your transparency, insight and courage in writing this book. Sometimes I felt like I personally knew you and even more than that...you personally knew me. You were all up in my business!

It's more than a book to me. It's more of a life reference guide that I will turn to again and again for encouragement, wisdom and inspiration. I'm very excited about using the journaling guide in the back to help me dig out the beautiful woman that's inside of me.

Thank you so much for writing this book! I know what my friends are getting for Christmas this year.

I think that what I most enjoy about the "From Porn to Poetry" books, as well as CleanSheets.com, the magazine they originate from, is that you can say something like "sexy, classy, hot, wild, and true" and be accurate in your description. The editor's name, Susannah Indigo, represents authenticity in writing to me, and all of her projects that I've read have been a cut above ordinary erotica. The mix of material in this book ranges from the down and dirtiest stories to elegant, sexual poems, and there's nowhere else you can read that kind of pleasurable mix. The subtitle is "Clean Sheets Celebrates the Erotic Mind," and that's how it felt to me after reading the book - like my "erotic mind" had been thoroughly and joyously "celebrated," honored, turned-on, and was raring to go.

Nothing in the book resembles cheap "Penthouse" stories; stunning stories by writers like Kim Addonizio, Maggie Gray, Mike Kimera, Greg Wharton, and Susannah Indigo herself simply leave you begging for more. I can't recommend these books enough to anyone interested in erotica; I've gifted friends with them and they all agree. They wonder, in fact, where I found them, since there's nothing in big bookstores done as well as this. Thank heavens for the Web and the ability for small book publishers to put this cornucopia of erotica out there for us!

There are some really good stories in this book, and the rest is such an interesting variety that I highly recommend all of it.

I love the mixture of fiction and non-fiction and poetry in this book. All of it is sexy, interesting, fresh and new. Highly recommended, and a great gift for a love to get them talking about what they like.

I agree that there should be more books like this, always full of great writing, huge variety, covering the entire scope of our dirty and sexy minds, without being Penthouse-y/girlie magazine. Smart writing, sexy, with emotional depth, and hot. Excellent book.

There's such a lacking in books like this - smart but still sexy, funny sometimes yet deadly serious others, erotic and sensual from start to finish. Mostly deep and meaningful stories and poems, really just beautifully done.

Le Pham Le is a brilliant poet drawing on various traditions in her background to create moments frozen in time and yet alive with beauty and movement. To hear Le Pham Le perform her work is an additional treat but reading them by yourself can transport you to another time, another place forever. Bravo!

I do not know fluent Vietnamese, or really any for that matter. The English translations are so florid and calming that I can only imagine that the poerty must be majestic when spoken in Vietnamese. The poems are such a powerful introspective look into the hear and mind of a very talented soulful poet. I am not a large fan of poetry, but this is just an amazing poetic compilation.

Recognizing that Southeast Asian youth are quickly forgetting the lessons of traditional culture, war and the refugee experience, Le Pham eloquently recounts in poetry her personal experience. Printed in both Vietnamese and English, Le records the essential emotional experience. Nostalgic homeland and savage high seas memories are carefully detailed in a wonderful conciseness only possible in poetry. A must read for social science teachers and Vietnamese youth.

There are few sources of poetry today that can capture the essense of the Vietnamese-American experience with such vivid imagery and a slew of emotions. Le's poetry emits a profound sense of sorrow as she embarks on a literary journey back to her past, and the reader cannot help but feel as if they are traveling alongside her. It has been decades since the end of the Vietnam War, yet each one of Le's poems manages to bring the struggles of that time period to life. Without a doubt, Le's poetry is eloquent, poignant, deeply touching, extremely captivating, timeless, and speaks to all generations.

Le Pham Le has a great eye for the most important and moving moments of her journey from Vietnam to America. The emotional peaks and many lows a captured in a simple, direct and touching poetic narrative that places the reader in the heart of the journey Le Pham Le and many other Vietnamese were forced to take after their country was devastated by war. These telling vignettes leave a lasting impression, one that mixes the pain of loss with the need to move on.

Goblin Market, a verse fairy tale that was first published in 1862, is a rather fascinating piece of masterful poetry. It tells a wonderfully sensuous tale that has inspired a myriad of interpretations. I've spent more time reading about Goblin Market than I did actually reading it - savoring it, rather, for it really calls for a much more personal treatment than a mere reading. This pre-Raphaelite work harbors latent eroticism that echoes with both renunciation and desire. Thus, some term it a work of repressed Victorian eroticism and grin knowingly (and leeringly) as they recount the fact that Goblin Market was quite a popular children's fairy tale in its day. Christine Rossetti was herself a recluse along the lines of Emily Dickinson, allowing her heart to sing freely even as she kept herself separated from any possible objects of her latent desires.

In the poem, one sister gives in to the temptation of the forbidden fruit offered by the dark goblins forever lurking in the twilight to seduce their victims to a first taste of their exotic wares. The desire to obtain more of the passion fruit overtakes her young life, yet the goblins appear to her no more; as a result, she begins to waste away near to death. At this point, her sister, who sensibly avoided temptation, willingly seeks to bargain with the goblins, only to have them force their juicy wares upon her. The fruity residue is enough, however, to revive her sister. The act of salvation is obviously the juiciest part of the story on a number of levels - such a sensual act between sisters, with lines such as "Hug me, kiss me, suck my juices" and "Eat me, drink me, love me," cries out for interpretation of all kinds - and those quick to criticize the hypocritical prudishness of Victorian society have a veritable field day with it.

Some say this is not a poem for children's ears? Balderdash. Like any masterful work of poetry, Goblin Market can be read and interpreted on many levels. Children will delight in its lyrical rhyming patterns, its allusions to wee goblins hawking the most delicious of fruits, and interpret the salvation of the tempted sister in comparatively innocent terms. I say leave the interpretations to the adults. And what interpretations there are of this lengthy poem. Some see in it a recreation of the genesis story, a story of sacrifice and redemption, a tale of lesbian yearning, a declaration of the power of sisterhood, a commentary on women as commodities in market society, evidence of sexual molestation by Rossetti's father, etc. There's no limit to the interpretations put forth about what is, on the surface, an engaging fairy tale set to verse.

This is a fascinating work of lyrical poetry that can be read fairly quickly yet will sustain your interest through multiple readings, all sorts of fascinating research into analysis and interpretation, and just plain wonderment. As sensual as it is beautiful, Goblin Market is probably one of the most fascinating and insightful products of Victorian literature.

I wonder if the good folk at the end of the 19th century when this poem was originally published were just too obtuse to understand the gist of Rossetti's work; if so, we have an innocent artifact that has evolved into something erotic because of our twentieth century sensibilities (we have dirtier minds than our compatriots from the past).

Don't let the word "erotica" scare you away. This is not a blatantly sexual work in its language; it is not a "dirty" book. Just understand that despite what anyone else says or writes, this is about as unambiguously EROTIC as you can get. With phrasing like "Eat me, drink me, love me; Laura, make much of me; For your sake I have braved the glen; And had to do with goblin merchant men."

Since the original work is now in the public domain, if you want to read the full text online just do a search using most standard search engines with the terms "Christina Rossetti Goblin Market" and you should turn up a number of links to the actual poems, go read it, and decide for yourself about it.

This makes a wonderful gift for people you are very close too. However, it is also a very personal poem, and if given inappropriately could actually scare someone away!

Noted Italian/English poetess of the 1800's Christina Rossetti's imagination catching poetry has stood the test of time, being still loved and studied today. Because of its title, Goblin Market sometimes gets put into a juvenile category, but this is a poem for mature readers. This moral tale depicts the epic struggle between bad and good. The goblin's onslaught on virtue immediately engages the reader's inner ear and heart. This poem is really gripping reading. Goblin Market is often considered Christina Rossetti's best poem. This re-issue, replete with noted illustrator Arthor Rackham's beautifully eerie drawings, is a book worth owning.

A children tale for adults. It's a light and thoughtful reading. The story of two sisters and lewd goblin men. Innocence, temptation and emotions all together. This inspiring story has wonderful work of Dante Gabriel Rossetti.

This tale is not about sexuality but about redemption and the need to help others. Read deep into the story to find the meaning that Rossetti intended.

I was looking for a book about manners for my four year old. I came across this one, and decided to give it a try. It's charming, and he LOVES it!

The book is written in a rythmic poetry that really appeals to young children and the stories are funny -- and while they do convey bad manners, they simultaneously make it clear why the behaviors are unacceptable. (I was a little concerned about that, but I needn't have been.)

I recommend this one!

What a great book! Thirty years ago (when I was five) I discovered this book. These are manners children used to be taught. Now parents expect teachers and others to raise their children for them. Etched in my mind forever is one of the phrases from this book. "The goops they lick their fingers, the goops they lick their knives, they spill their broth on the tablecloth , oh they lead disgusting lives. The goops they talk while eating,and loud and fast they chew, I'm glad I'm not a goop are you?" Buy this book!

Time moves on, we make technological advances and things change. However, people remain the same. No matter what happens, right is right and wrong is wrong.

What impressed me the most about this book is that it is fun to read. I don't want to bash Emily Post, Martha Stewart or any others lecturing on the dos and don'ts of life, but books on manners and etiquette can sometimes get pretty dry.

I have a feeling that children everywhere will love the whimsical drawings and happy little rhymes.

The subject matter may seem simple, but Goops and How To Be Them provides a wonderful opportunity for parents to speak with their children about the issues that face today's youth.

The editor of the latest release of Goops and How To Be Them has set up a website devoted to training kids and families about manners........................

I grew up with Goop books, and I have fond memories. There are numerous poems on what good little children should do (manners) and what the round faced goops do to be naughty. A very fun children's book.

My mother read me this book when I was very young, and it stays with me still. A great way to teach kids manners!

I unashamedly admit I loved this book. It was such a glorious flash back to my youth. And the silly songs/rhymes we used to sing/chant. I even shared this with my 11 year old son. Who was rather confused by this practice of "stupid songs" but enjoyed learning a few with me, and I even caught his singing "greasy grimey gopher guts" to my baby the other day..who adored it.

As the other reviewers have stated, this is a great collection of naughty rhymes and chants from childhood. However, I have to agree with the psychiatrist. I would have liked more analysis. This seems to be a great topic for somebody's doctoral thesis. How do these verses originate? Are most of them created by children for children? What can we learn about children from them?

On second thought, maybe it is best that these verses remain under wraps. There is something to be said about an under the radar way that children have to harmlessly express their rebelliousness.

If you love subversiveness, I'd also suggest Nick Bantock's , "Averse to Beasts," a book with a cassette filled with creepy little ryhmes!

I had two immediate reactions on reading this book: "Yep, we had that one - words aren't quite right, though" and "Wait a minute! Where's (such-and-such) rhyme? How did they miss that one?" This is a great book, and a very useful reference for those who didn't realize that they do, in fact, know the tune to "The Old Gray Mare" (see title of book), "The Colonel Bogey March" ("Comet! It makes your lips turn green. . .") and "The Whiffenpoof Song" (several insulting versions lampooning schools). This book will take you back to your childhood. That's not the childhood that you're going to claim to your kids that you had, but the actual one where you made up nasty names for school food. Mind you, if you allow your children to read this book, you will receive many, many indignant phone calls from the parents in your neighborhood, but I'd say it's worth the risk.

i swiped this book from my brother who swiped it from my mother who got it at a used book sale- so its been around the block a few times. i am now 16 an begin using this book at the age of 10. manny a days were spent at the lunch table with my frineds laughing at- and using these rymes( such as; hark the harold angles shout! # more days till school gets out! grab you ball and grab your chan, and run like hell to the nearist train) sooner of later it became known as " the bible" to my groop.all thse yesrs it has been a tresured posetion of mine, and from time to time i bing it out once more to my friends- and it still keep us laughing.

I'm glad to have seen such a diversity of topics in the book. Many authors don't mention certain things for children such as illnesses that might touch their own personal lives. Of course they have grandparents, aunts, uncles and friends that might be affected by Alzheimer's disease. I also enjoyed the different moods of happiness and sadness in other poems. The information about inventors through simple rhymes was great!

This was a very good book. I loved it alot. I almost died of laughter. I almost cried with some too.

I liked this book so much i'm going to read it again and again.

View the Glass Half Full! Imaginative Collection of Poems Offers Young Poets Insight and Inspiration
Monday February 3, 3:22 pm ET

MIAMI, Fla., Feb. 3, 2003 (PRIMEZONE) -- Writing poetry is never easy, whether it be a simple rhyme about cats wearing hats or a monumental epic detailing grand adventures and great deeds. Fortunately, award-winning teacher and author Ana Monnar is here to help! Monnar explores and explains the basics of writing poetry and much more in her new book, Half Full, Or Half Empty?

Written for children ages ten and older, Monnar's simple to use, easy to understand book offers examples of different types of poems -- from couplets to limericks, from haikus to narrative pieces, on a wide variety of topics, including faith, hope, compassion and unity. She also includes tips on reading, recitation, and composition as well as links to helpful Web sites such as online rhyming dictionaries, translations and poetry contests.

Inspired by her own love of poetry and in recognition of its therapeutic value, Monnar writes, ``This book is different from other children's poetry books because it offers humor, and awakens emotions, both happy and sad.'' Drawing on a culturally diverse background as well as two decades of teaching experience, Monnar's book effectively and expertly instructs even the youngest of poets to express his or her feelings, in a structured, productive way.

Author Ana Monnar was born in Havana, Cuba. Having spent her early years there, she immigrated to Miami at the age of seven and became a U.S. citizen. She earned a master of science degree in early childhood and elementary education from Florida International University and has been teaching ever since. A wife and mother of three, Monnar explores photography, reading and writing in her spare time. Although she has inspired countless students to write and publish their works, Half Full, Or Half Empty? is her first book. Her second book, Adoption? Thank God for that Option! is due out in 2003.

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I have truly enjoyed reading the inspirational and uplifting poems. The poems are very simple and clear to motivate children as well as adults. As an educator and parent, I highly recommend this wonderful book of poetry.

This wonderful book of poetry about everyday family goings-on reminds me of a Dr. Seuss read. What a great way to introduce children of all ages to poetry. Clever illustrations keep young children engaged while being read to. A book to make the whole family smile (and maybe laugh right out loud).

This book is unique and reminds us of the perspective of a child. I'm a big fan of Dr. Suess books. Each of the poems in this book could be a Dr. Suess-style story. Enjoy!

This book is great! I loved the fact that the proceeds go to a great cause, but more importantly the book is very well written. There is a wide variety of poems that range from silly and fun to thought provoking. Every child has their own favorite and the colorful illustrations are wonderful. A great book to read to the kids no matter how young or old they are. There is something for everyone.

I love these poems as much as my grandchildren do, maybe even more! I think it's as entertaining and funny for adults as children. The last poem in the book was so beautiful it made me cry!!

I have three children, and this book is their favorite book! We read it every night before bed. It is very entertaining and enjoyable for us all. A must have!

It may seem like a bizarre sort of set of verses to read to children, but my mother grew up with it, and I think my grandfather did, and it didn't give them nightmares! Kids get caught up in the pattern of the words and adults enjoy these catchy verses as something quaint and charming.

Unlike most of the appreciators of Hilaire Belloc's comic verse for children, I first came to these wonderfully droll verses as an adult (I was brought up on Samuel Hoffenstein and Ogden Nash), but I have grown to love them as if I had known them since my earliest years (hey, that's the start of "Lord Lundy"). In his "Beasts", "Cautionary Tales" and "Peers" verses, Belloc achieves a delightful synthesis of the fearless straight-ahead gaze of childhood (in the tradition of "The Story of Augustus, Who Would Not Eat His Soup") with the style of absolutely dead-pan English humor (e.g. Stephen Potter's "Gamesmanship"). Do not neglect the verses in "Peers" and "More Peers"; "Lord Hippo" and "Lord Lucky" are the equal of "Matilda" and "Jim". Note for Lord Peter fans: Dorothy L. Sayers has Peter Wimsey quote several times from these Belloc poems.

I learnt lots of these poems as a child in school - perhaps I had a teacher with a wicked and somewhat warped sense of humour! And I have never forgotten how wonderful they are. My personal favourite is about poor Jim, who gets into so much trouble, but the others are equally delightful.

These gleefully moral tales are never out of date. Children will be naughty, and a good rhyme has a timelessness of its own. Share them with your own children and be amused together!

Outrageous, yet, delivering a straight-forward moral lesson, Belloc's cautionary tales are classic.

This is an excellent book. It is small and pocket-sized so my children can handle it very easily. This book is advertized as being a hardcover when it actually is not. It is still worth it to get it, though.

It is debatable whether or not this collection of poems is confessional or not. However, I feel that is not the important thing. What is important is that Hass has taken events in his life and emotions and forces the reader to feel and see them as well. It causes one to look at things in a different way, a new way.

These are great poems, be it to read deeply and study, or to just read them casually and sink into the emotions and thoughts Hass' words provoke.

A must for any collection of poetic works.

I must begin by saying that Robert Hass' body of work is without many rivals in the world of contemporary American poetry, thus to call this book his "most accomplished" -which I wholeheartedly believe- is not to say that the rest of his poetry volumes are not wonderful and, in some cases, stunning.
Still, "Human Wishes," in my opinion, stands out as a work of delicate craft and compassionate thoughtfulness. Hass achieves something extremely uncommon -among modern poets, of course, and so much rarer among our politicians!- he conveys strong conviction without smearing you with righteous rhetoric.
Each of his poems invites you to enter his vision gently but not without requiring you to engage your heart, and risk whatever borrowed ideas one may call one's view, for the sake of attaining a new depth of thinking and seeing.
Poems like "Paschal Lamb," an extraordinary example of his prose poems, show this conclusively. I can honestly say that reading -and often re-reading- this poem, has changed me. What may appear at its beginning to be a scholarly meditation on the idea of the "sacrificial lamb," moves beautifully to a reminiscence of passionate young friends dealing with the Vietnam War, and becomes a moving reflection on how regular human beings could change the world. So, ultimately, this poem achieves all three: it is a meditation on sacrifice, a reminiscence of people with strong ideals, and powerful proof of the transformational capacity of language to have us see and engage with life, more deeply.
Now, of course, that is just one of this many, gorgeous gifts in this collection. This volume is full of great poems, for instance "Human Wishes," "The Privilege Of Being," "A Story About A Body," or "Tall Windows" which, each in its own way, are remarkable in their gentle wisdom and unassuming, flawless craft.
It is important to note that, in Robert Hass' case, words I chose to describe his work such as "delicate" or "gentle" are, by no means, chosen to convey fragility nor mild manners. Mr. Hass' words manage a different kind of strength, of fierceness even, without raising their voice nor sounding alarms to convey their urgency.
Robert Hass has been an inspiration to me as a fellow poet, and as a human being earnestly attempting to live an authentic life.
Lives not unlike the people he speak of in "Privilege Of Being", who, at times, may live their lives ...

[...] clutching each other with old, invented
forms of grace and clumsy gratitude, ready
to be alone again, or dissatisfied, or merely
companionable like the couples on the summer beach
reading magazine articles about intimacy between the sexes
to themselves, and to each other,
and to the immense, illiterate, consoling angels."

Hass shows us why it's more important to release a great book every decade or so than to publish a mediocre one annually. This is absolutely one of the best collections of poetry ever. It blurs the line between prose and poetry in its pages, so I recommend it to fans of fiction as well as fans of poetry.

You can do much worse than to emulate Robert Hass.

I feel in debt to Robert Hass for this illustrious collection of poetry. I happened to be browsing a local bookstore one day a few years ago, and some strange impulse (the like of which I usually disregard) provoked me to purchase it. I was just out of high-school then, and wasn't too familiar with how emotionally engaging "free verse" could be. In fact, it took me a little while to absorb his words so that I could feel the true significance of them. Hass paints his poetry with tiny, delicate brush-strokes, and is very uncompromising in what he is trying to say. This is what I've come to adore about free verse: you can use the word that most accurately portrays what you're trying to say, without worrying about rhyme.

Hass often sheds light on the subtle (and often overlooked) undercurrents of daily life. For instance, take this dialogue between an adult and a very young child from "Santa Barbara Road," one of my absolute favorites:

"Household verses: "Who are you?"
the rubber duck in my hand asked Kristin
once, while she was bathing, three years old.
"Kristin," she said, laughing, her delicious
name, delicious self. "That's just your name,"
the duck said. "Who are you?" "Kristin,"
she said. "Kristin's a name. Who are you?"
the duck asked. She said, shrugging,
"Mommy, Daddy, Leif."

Very simple, yet it perfectly illustrates how, from a very young age, were taught to search for our identities semantically; in the narrow labels that are given to us.

But enough of my rambling, just buy the book.

Robert Hass (UC Berkeley, English Dept.) is a wonderful poet and teacher. Human Wishes demonstrates that he is one of the most interesting poets on the scene today. His verse is vibrant and energetic. I highly recommend this collection of poems. Also, Hass has done much to introduce poetry to the general public.

Hass is a Northern California poet who has an eye for subtle movements in the natural world. Whether his setting is Tacoma, WA or Mt. Tamalpais, he always manages to capture images of life at its most fundamental source. For example, in "Spring Rain": "...the light will enlarge your days, your dreams at night will / be as strange as the jars of octopus you saw once in a fisherman's boat / under the summer moon...."

The strongest work here is the prose poems, such as "Museum" (describing a couple at a Kathe Kollwitz exhibit), "Human Wishes" ("This morning the sun rose over the garden wall and a rare blue sky leaped from east to west"), "Tall Windows," and "The Harbor at Seattle."

Also, the third section of this little book contains some gems, such as "Misery and Spendour," "Santa Barbara Road," and "Berkeley Eclogue."

Hass loves word craft and the spirit that inhabits diverse poetic voices. His enthusiasm and zeal for the 'poetic' is much felt in this rich, little volume. In reading Hass, one feels as if the printed page could crawl or even perhaps fly away with the beautiful life that is found there.

I also recommend: C. Milosz, R. Jeffers, and A. Zagajewski.