Poetry Books

The CD in the back of this book is worth the cost. The graphics are ingaging and imaginative. The poems of Rumi are inspiring as always and will awaken your spirit.

I was fortunate to be present at a live performance of the Illumination Band, and the initial distribution of One Song, at a conference in Haverford in 2005. I've since bought and given away as gifts at least 12 copies of Green's book, and I love the IB. I think the juxtaposition of Rumi to bluegrass is a great expression of the inherent crossover nature and humor of Rumi. By all means get it, read it, listen to it.
(Rev) Hank Galganowicz

Spectacular! I am a Rumi scholar and I learned a great deal more from this fabulous presentation of the thoughts and works of Rumi as brought over from Persian by Coleman Barks. Michael Green's illuminations and his thoughts on the insights of Rumi are profound and relevant to understanding our spirituality and our humanness. Fantastic!

Michael Green's mastery of graphic design is the perfect complement to Rumi's mastery of mystical poetry.

I highly recommend this to everyone who loves mystical poetry and appreciates illuminated design...

PS - I don't consider the musical CD much of a value-add, but even if you didn't resonate with the music (as was the case with me), the book is well worth the expense.

An absolutely beautiful book!
The combination of the prose and the illustrations makes this book a treasure for generations to come!

Petersen's "One Year Book of Psalms:Devotionals" is an enjoyable read. It takes the appropriate amount of time with each Psalm. The shorter ones are given a day, while longer ones are broken up so that one really gets a chance to get into it. This can be used for personal reading and it could also be shared and done with a group. I highly recommend it.

If you are like me and find reading the bible sometimes too daunting a task, pick up this devotional and you get a little dose of spiritual blessing every day and in a format that you will relate to.

I love the book of Psalms and this is a great little devotional book. There is so much comfort and guidance in the Bible and I like the fact that this breaks Psalms down into bit size pieces to chew on all day long. I do wish the book was spiral bound though to make it stay open easier for my devotional study.... but then again I wish ALL books were spirial bound.

Not only do you get to read the psalms... but a nice explaination with each one as well. Very well written... it's worth a lot more than I paid for it!

Peterson's Book, 365 Days in the Psalms is excellent filled with good illustrations from ancient days as well as modern. Peterson does a fine job and I highly recommend this book for those who want to know God better.

Ann Everitt

Before reading this book, I didn't know anything about Oulipo....do you? If not, here's the gist: Oulipo are a bunch of slightly crazy people who want to find new and fun ways to write stuff. So, they create all these interesting and zany techniques to generate their writing...to me, it seems similar to how modern composers generate notes and rhythms using tone rows and stuff like that. This book is a "compendium" of these techniques, Oulipo authors, their works, etc. I think it's great. I'd recommend it to writers who want to try something new (as opposed to just writing "from the heart", or whatever) and I'd also recommend it to people who like modern, formalist type stuff. Have fun.

Rather than individually buying a variety of basic tools, consider getting the Oulipo Compendium, which contains all the essentials: screwdrivers, wrenches, pliers, detective-novel-plot-generation-cards, Raymond Queneau's sonnet matrix, etc. Part of the benefit of an oulipo compendium of this scope is that it comes with its own carrying case, includes just about everything you need for at-home brain surgery, and is organized alphabetically, in the form of a dictionary. Harry Mathews and Alastair Brotchie's home/auto/linguistic tool set meets all these needs and more. Fits both standard and metric sockets. Features basic Oulipo tool set, assorted sizes of screwdrivers and ice-picks, sestina modifiers, biographies of oulipo participants side-by-side with multiple permutations of the N+7 theorem, socket wrenches with 70 sockets and 5 fingers and toes, and an especially amusing photograph of Georges Perec wearing a saucy beard. Stores easily on bokshelf or in the trunk of your car for travel emergencies. Smite your enemy by inventing a law which turns "Y" into "A" whenever it is preceded by "ENEM". Recover language and see what it's like to not live as a slave to your mother's tongue.

What can I say of the Compendium, except that I wish I had known about it years ago when I was slogging through many a boring creative writing class asking, always, "Is this all we have?" Truly, there is another side to writing, a playful, divergent, fascinating side that gives the reader and the writer a world of untold possibility.

Reading this book was very like being allowed into the fold of the Ultra Cool Kids, finding them to be an evolved form of human, and being welcomed just the same. The history, writing, and exercises held in this volume should be read by everyone thinking of exploring experimental writing. If you are bored with the status quo--and how could you not be?--then this book is for you.

Oulipo is great! This book is just so full of STUFF. What they did was just spend a lot of time thinking of wild ways to inspire & direct writing, & what we're left with is this labyrinth of experimrents. For me, the one of the greatest things gleaned from Oulipo is just the general sense that therec are sooo many more conceptual & logistical systems out there that you haven't even touched upon yet but that are waiting.

If you ever come across Arthur Brand's little article on the Oulipo, cherish it. I read it back in the late 80s, in an anthology somewhere, and I've never been able to find it since. It whet my appetite for these crazy masters of restricted composition, who spend their time devising totally new ways to write. This isn't a book for the "poetry of everyday life" set, or writing workshop clones. It's a book, as Brand said, for "mad scientists, mathematicians, monster-makers and angels." It's a writer's encylopedia, stuffed with ideas, strategies, graphs, games, machines, etc for making poetry and fiction.

If, as Leslie Scalapino suggests in the introduction to this book, Philip Whalen's poetry is about how his consciousness worked and utilized language, so that each poem is a gestalt of his thinking in process, then I think we must add that Big ZEN HA HA is present, ever-present in the articulate artifacts this poet of the hole-in-the-shoe and the shaven head (and I hear sadly mortal heart gunked up and out of incarnation by casual eating habits) left behind. Every turn of a trope ends in an undercutting of intention and meaning in the same way that the polyvalency of BIG ZEN HA HA (think "koans" here), undermines single meaning in every sacral utterance of Zen scripture. Of the See No Evil, Speak No Evil, Hear No Evil, Big Three of Gary Snyder, Philip Whalen and Lew Welch, we pretty much understand the hooks on which Snyder and Welch hung their tambourines, but it's Whalen who seems the reticent, self-effacing, hard to clearly define (just as Zen is), guy. He comes across sometimes as a New York School Poet (though lacking the sophistication of an Ashbery or O'Hara but including all their allusions to pop culture), and sometimes as a collagist of texts, in a kind of casual West Coast surrealism, but always as a 5-to-75 cent word nihilist, ready with a stick of BIG ZEN HA HA to shatter the prisms he stacks up so carefully before phenomena to liberate the pure light of the momentary mind. (And sometimes his verbal gestures remind me of the outsider texts, as well as the outsider stance of Harry Partch.) I'm still reading Whalen's Overtime news, hoping to stick around long enough to hear him whine for a toy early in his next incarnation on the streets of Tomorrow.

This isn't some crumbling, dry keeper of the hallowed institution that is sometimes "poetry." It is sad that Whalen's works are so hard to come by these days.

Why aren't you reading this?

ON BEAR'S HEAD is a staple in my library of 20th Century poetry collections. Too often included in the same breath with Snyder, Kerouac and the beats, Whalen's work deserves to stand alone. This new collection is a must for anyone who appreciates true literary invention.

Philip Whalen is a national treasure, one of our most important living poets. This collection, masterfully assembled by Michael Rothenberg, is a great place to start if you're not familiar with Whalen's work, and a glorious visiting ground for those of us who have already discovered him. Don't let the word POETRY dissuade you. You will not be bored for a minute.

I didn't know much about Whalen's poetry until he died this year, but the terrific memorial reading for him here in San Francisco drove me to "Overtime" and man, what a find. The Beats were more learned than the 'first thought, best thought' aesthetic suggests, and Whalen's poems balance religion, philosophy and cranky Zen insight with a casual, conversational Americanese in a way few of his more famous contemporaries could touch. His poems draw from a deep past that embraces everything from ancient Chinese verse to classical music, but insist that it walk down the street in T-shirt and jeans. Whalen spent the last three decades of his life at the San Francisco Zen Center--his particular brand of Buddhism, so generous to human failings (starting always, comically, with his own) and never, ever doctrinaire, has to be one of the most attractive spins on Eastern religion I've read. Whalen was in it and of it, never above it. He gives the moment plenty of wiggle room in his writing, so that cats, friends and silly thoughts can all stray into the poems without being shoo'd out for art. Whatever Beat meant, Whalen shows it in about its best light. Poetry's a little thinner and more straight-laced with him gone.

Adam Blanks is an extraoridnarily talented individual and I had no choice but to follow in his footsteps. Through positive encouragement and a great deal of support, he continued writing as well as dreaming everyday about his one goal which was that of a publication. He finally was able to do it and his dream became a reality. His talent was now shared with the world. Ever since he was a teenager he has been creating countless journeys for us to take and it is indeed a glorious stroll through one's psyche. The imagery and the creativity in this book are just mindboggling. It is surprising to think about how hard it is to reach someone's soul but for Adam, this book shows that he has no problem reaching the soul and actually goes deeper than that. The cool thing about it is that I was reading these poems long before they were in this book and I still love them just as much as I did in the past. It has been his life long dream and I am extremely proud of him and his poetry will live on forever.

What a cool book. I've read it 5 times already! I Have a few poems that are my personal faves, but every one of them made me feel something. People keep asking me if they can borrow it, but I just tell them to go buy their own cuz I don't want to give it up! : )

Mr. Blanks definitely gets you thinking. Sometimes you have to wonder what HE was thinking. He has an uncanny ability to write without inhibition. I think that if these "paintings" in his mind really were paintings, they would be abstract! I absolutely enjoyed the read. I recommend that you give this one a try.

The book was honest and brilliant, vunerable and thoughtful. The author was uninhibited and gives you a look inside that few are able to reveal. Thank you Adam Blanks! I am a true fan. Looking forward to more!

It has been passed all over campus. All my friends thought that it was wierd that I was reading poetry, until they read it too. It was like Adam Blanks could see inside my mind. I could definately relate.

I began reading Deb's book and ended up reading it twice in the same night. I found so much wisdom and comfort in her words. I felt every word. She is truly a gifted writer. If you have not read her book "Pausing to catch my breath...", you should. It would also make a wonderful gift for your mother, sister or best girlfriend. Her poems speak to the heart. This is one book I would like to keep close and read when I am feeling down or need to know someone else out there understands.

Debra A Warren's, Pausing To Catch My Breath is a fabulous read!
As I perused each poem, I felt like I knew her family members and that I was one of the priviledged few who got a glimpse into her private diary of life. Her words captivate and encircle your heart and mind with each line of text. Debra's book is more than her poetry, it's her world and I am proud that I had the distinct honor of reading and critiquing such profound work. It's a must read for anyone who loves poetry and can appreciate life's lessons.

Terri Ann Armstrong
Author of My Soul Has Spoken

Debra A. Warren brings forth poems that are very creative adn inspirational. In this book she takes the reader through her life experiences with poetry that makes a person think about their own life experiences. You can feel the emotions she wants to convey in each and every poem. There are emotions of every kind expressed. I've enjoyed reading this book and would recommend any poetry lovers read it. It is a very good book.
Julie A. Bowles

I received Debra's book yesterday. With a hot cup of coffee, the kids asleep, and in my comfy lounge chair, I began reading.
I couldn't help myself, but to read the entire book. I didn't know what she'd be writing next, so I just keep reading and turning the pages.

Many of the author's poems that have touched her life, has touched mine, and I'm sure many other people. What she writes about is what happens to every woman at some point. Happiness, Sadness, Death, Heartache, and being Blessed with Children, and then Grandchilden. Her poems have the ability, though they came from her heart, to touch so many others.

I hope to see more of her work published. I truly enjoyed reading "Pausing to Catch my Breath".

"Pausing to Catch my Breath" warms the cockles of my heart. The author Debra A. Warren shares her innermost self and her life experiences in this beautifully written, captivating book of poetry. She weaves a poetic tales to which we all can relate.
Debra A. Warren has certainly found an effective way to reminisce about `Life Reflections,' `Family Ties,' and `the Ups and Downs of love.' We have all experienced these emotions, made the wishes and had our share of heart rending, life changing romances.
"Pausing to Catch my Breath' is lighthearted, insightful and thought invoking. It evokes memories of yesteryear. Kick back, relax or snuggle up with a cup of beverage of choice and a copy of "Pausing to Catch my Breath" and you will not be disappointed. It makes a beautiful gift for book lovers of all ages.
Pamela deLeon-Lewis

Now that I have purchased this one as well as Verismo, I have come to love this one even more. I again have many, many favorites and was very difficult to choose just one favorite! But, through reading more and more, I have found one to call my own!
Again, thank you Dech, for making my mind go deep inside my inner souls of souls, and realize the ways of our worlds. I
Love you my friend and I CANNOT wait to get my hands on Puppets mountain!

Decheonbae is a very good writer and he really knows his stuff. Iwas given this book for a gift now I buy this book to give to others!

Pearls of Justice seems to cover everything in a poetical way-life, dreams, and society. This is not your run of the mill poetry book! This is a book of reason and Justice for self and humanity, I am confident that Decheonbae is only going to higher levels in his next set of writing's but somehow I think he did it now. I can only be amazed of what this man do next because he is breaking all traditional barriers! I must say he is a challenging young indivisual with a extreme view on life and I am glad that I finally recieved my book! I must say like the others, this book is definetly 'something new and promissing"-this man got talent and from what I've been hearing "VERISMO" is a must have! I just want to say keep it up Decheonbae Jones, I can tell you have what it takes thus more.

Hello every one I am new to Decheonbae Jones poetry and must say he is a GOD in my book. You can not deny him and the treasure he posses in the meaning behind his works. I am a very shock on the way that he just jumps out on you and really explains the humanity of truth, I swear he is bonafide and gifted in the arts. My job seems so much easier now with his knowledge,I don't see how he can possibilty do better than VERISMO but if he do I will be there. "Hey DECHEONBAE if you write a novel what is it going to be about, I really want to know more of your mind!"

'Love it was robust..."

This is Poetry of an different style, Evil; but sacred genius of description- Possible but Known Humanity, Robust passions in a way of grains, Plus love of non-fictional-bless too beyond mistakes, My pattern yet they are lost into jeopardy- Perhaps I am of who you thought, So Behold I am in danger but Love was Pre-hemp too past tense then Rehearse of cause general, ... - By Decheonbae Thanks you Jones, ...

THE ONLY POET...-:!!!111,

The new book sooner than you think my love "PuppetsMountain,"

Decheonbae Jones- Welcome'

I bought this book, and Merrit's book, "My Song for Him Who Never Sang for Me" Both were very inspiring and had a lasting effect in my life. Unfortunately, both books were lost in a fire. I'm desparate to find another copy of each. If you have one, or if you know where I can get one, please e-mail me at "TROCOLO@AOL.COM". Two of my favorite poems were, "The Maintenance Man" and a poem about a "Flight at JFK". If I could even get copies of those two poems, I'd be so delighted. Thanks.

She is the bomb. Creative, deep, whimisical, intelligent, I honestly have never read better poetry. Her words transend unexaplanable emotions and experiences to light. Buy this book

I have been reading her books since my teen years. She inspired me in ways I only wish I could tell her about ! Her books have made be laugh , cry , grow stronger and brought me many hours of deep thought. I only hope Mom's hand her books down to thier daughters , I have and she writes poetry now that is amazing ! Thank you Merrit ....Where ever you are.

I read it seven years ago at the age of 17. I've been a poet since I was 10, but had only envisioned poetry as poetry when it rhymed until Merrit who turned her work loose on me. I read her entire book of poetry in an hour or so (if it took that long... maybe longer). I had checked it out from the library. At the time I picked up her book I was stuck in the forced rhyme stage... producing maybe a good poem here and there. Her book, through a style I was unfamiliar with, was put right in my face. A style I'd never thought of. Never could find but was always looking for. It's a delicate style of experiences spoken almost in the average language with a lot of puns and perhaps raw surprises along the ending... sometimes tossed throughought or just raw truths that pull you in to experience that specific moment.

You begin to imagine an entire life that this person went through, perhaps her, perhaps not. Maybe a bit of both. On my own terms I've come a long way since her book. Driven into a style of my own because of Merrit's book. It showed me a new kind of poetry. It's beautiful through its simplicity. Since then her book has given me a need for more poetic food. From that one book I've been led to a path that has kept me from making a mistake most poets make. Trying to re-create a new poem through a previous poem's success.

Great poems cannot be a duplicate of another. You can't give one poem the same sound or voice as another or it will fail. The beginning of that failure being the lack in your sincerity. It has to stand on its own--not be a crutch to another poem. Each poem needs your unique devotion. It's a love affair with each one! If you're cheating then it will never truly feel like a poem to those who care about their work. It will be like an out of tune key on a piano that just keeps rubbing you the wrong way. A bad itch.

So although I love Merrit's work, her book has shown me that I don't have to duplicate her voice, but find my own. Her style is her style and that's what makes her book so fantastic. She created her own concept of poetry. So now when anyone asks who my favorite poet is... it's not hard to find an answer. Her book of poetry is the only book I've found that's amazing in its entire volume. Since then I've still only found tidbits here and there... a poem here and there that I like from each poet. Never an entire volume of work like I found in Merrit Malloy's work.

For years I was snoozing when I read poems wondering why I was so bored... then I caught sight of her book and found it was all in the style of poetry and most poetry is boring! Which is why it's so great when you can actually find a poet that can write more than maybe 2-3 poems that you love! It's rare.

I had no idea who Merrit Malloy was until I read this book on my sisters desk, I've been writing poetry ever since. The words written here are from the heart of every woman and are captured perfectly. I'm now trying to publish my own work mainly inspired by her style and type of writting. It's everyday common sense poems let me know that someone else is feeling the same things I am. Most people I know that love Malloy's work are older of the 60's and 70's generation. I'm only 20 and esteem her with poets like Frost and Whitman. So you now know the Mtv generation loves your poems as well as everyone else. Thank you.

While there are other good translations of selections from the Canzoniere, Petrarcch's masterpiece needs to be read as a whole from start to finish in order to be fully appreciated. Petrarch planned and rewrote these poems in order to fit into an overall plan.
Usually I skip introductions to works that I read but I read the first paragraph of the extensive introduction and was quickly drawn in. This introduction was actualy a helpful prologue to the poetry which descibed Petrach's styles and intentions.
A blurb on the book cover says that Musa's treanslations read so well that you are unaware that they are translations. I certainly agree. I do not read Italian but this edition does conain the originals on the adjacent side.
I was surprised at the modernity and musicality of the poems. Petrarch was not just inflouential in his versification but also in his language. Much of his humanistic language has become second nature to us but he invented it.
I rank this book as not only some of the graetest poetry but as one ofthe great works of Western llterature.
These "little songs" are highly readble and like a said before form a sort of novelistic story that I would highly recommend to not just poetry readers but all readers.

In addition to one of the finest translations, Musa provides much useful background information. He includes a chronological table that comprises when the poems were written and times when the events occurred in Petrarch's live. The notes and commentary, not footnoted but located separately from the poems in a chapter at the end of the book, are detailed descriptions about the poems and its allegories. Musa tells readers about the name "Laura" and its connection to the laurel. Through the various explanations of Italian lyrics, readers learn how to differentiate between various poetic genres. The book also has the original Italian text as well as the English translation, so that readers can compare them. It is a great way to learn how to read Italian. Another important feature is the works cited because scholars can seek the same readings that Musa used for his book. And also, the index of the first lines is very helpful when one remembers a few beginning words of the poem and wants to know where it is located in the book. This edition is a must for anyone who collects the works of Petrarca.

Musa's translations preserve all the brilliant visionary beauty & humble humanness of Petrarch's voice. & where would western literature be without Petrarch? He was one of the main people to bring Europe out of the Middle Ages.

Petrarch, an Italian poet in the early 1300's, had a major influence on English literature in the 16th and 17th centuries. In a series of sonnets that became known as Canzoniere, Petrarch focused on his idea of love based on the sighting of a woman named Laura in a church. Though she was married, Petrarch confessed his love to her but was rebuked each time. With his love unreturned, he channeled that energy into his poetry and instead of trying to persuade Laura, his poetry idealizes and describes the concepts related to beauty. The poetry of the "lover" to the "beloved" describes Laura with "godly" attributes. The beloved is a woman who has an angelic appearance and a certain grace in her mannerisms. Physically, the beloved has blonde hair, blue eyes and pale white skin with red cheeks. She is radiant in appearance and can strike a man's heart in seconds. In addition, Petrarch's writing mechanics influenced the style in which future poems were written. Petrarch's poetry also followed a distinct meter, usually an octave scale. Petrarch's deliberate style and notion of beauty found in his sonnets set a new standard for writing.

Sidney, Spencer, and even Shakespeare were familiar with, and heavily influenced by, Petrarch's work. Other English poets like Henry Howard and Sir Thoms Wyatt tried to translate Petrarch's poetry. In order to understand this entire time peroid, one should go back to the roots and read the original. Mark Musa's translation includes the original Italian version as well as an excellent English translation. My professors also use this book because the translations stay as close to the original as possible. Though something is always lost in translation, these poems feel as if they are whole, and should be read as one long story. Musa's critical notes at the end of the book provide excellent insight into Petrarch's style, form and meaning. This is a great version of the Canzoniere and I highly recommend it.

This edition of Petrarch's Canzoniere (trans. Mark Musa) is the best English rendering I have seen. Durling's edition, while useful in different ways (I would certainly reccommend both to anyone seriously interested in Petrarch), doesn't provide translations that are nearly as poetic or comfortable as these. Musa's experience from translating Dante's Divine Comedy and Vita Nuova, Boccaccio's Decameron, and even, previously, portions of Petrarch's Canzoniere, definitely shines through here - Musa knows his way around the Italian greats, and it shows in this translation.

I grew up with this book in our family library. There was always a poem for me to copy for every occasion that I would write to someone, need a speech for school, or to enclose in a birthday or special occasion card. The style of each poem was universal. I NEED THIS BOOK! And now I can't find it anywhere. I'd be happy to get a second hand copy if nothing else. Still searching in Oregon but worth the effort!

I just read James J. Melcalfe's book titled, "More Poem Portraits." I loved it! I would really like to purchase a copy of it for myself. In fact, I would purchase copies to be used as gifts for friends. (The book I read is very old and belongs to a friend.)

I've loved his poems since reading them as a daily feature in the Charleston News & Courier in the 1950's. I have searched for this author's works in every library I've visited. No one has ever heard of him. Where can I find the source of "Garden in My Heart" and "Poem Portraits" -- surely it isn't hopeless! His poetry has a quiet and gentle charm that reaches right into one's heart and stays there for years.

I have loved these poems since the 50s and cut one out of the newspaper in 1956 and still have it. Since then I have started a collection of his books. I now have 5 of them and still looking for "Garden in My Heart". I have a website of James J. Metcalfe Poems. Let me know if you know where I can find "Garden in My Heart".

I have three books by J.J.Metcalfe that I founded at a second hand store, Poem Portraits,Poem Portraits of Inspiration, and Love Portraits I loved them all and I can not get enough of his work now I'm looking for his other six books Garden in my Heart, More Poem Portraits, Daily Poem Portraits, Poem Portraits of the Saints, Poems for Children, and My Rosary of Rhymes does any one know where I my find any of the books I named?