Poetry Books

I am not a huge fan of poetry, having been forced to read it in school, but Smith is so down to earth and real that I enjoyed the entire book. The cover got my attention and I decided to try it. I was glad I did! The words are obviously from the heart and based on personal experiences. It really made me think about how far our society has come and how far we still have to go. But it's not just about race relations, it's how all people relate to each other. I highly recommend that you take the chance and give it a read. It will seem like candy for the brain but it's good for it too. I look forward to more of Smith's work.

To the Author of the book, who is a wonderful man with strong and kind words. When you read his Poetry, you can assume one point at the beginning, but at the end of the poem it holds all Truth of Today's Society. One who reads will gather strength in their Heart to understand what People have been through. "At the End of each poem The World becomes a Better Place" by Poetacizing your Mind...G.

The words and meaning evoked from each poem truly is expressed from the heart. It is so nice to see a poetry book that is not sentimental or trite but speaks of the truth, both universal and personal. Recommend this book to poetry enthusiasts and those readers who just want a blast of fresh, honest writing.

Enjoyed it! G.Smith's book speaks loud and clear about today's culture and everyday life. Funny, heart felt and REAL!!!

It's always a treat to be exposed to what Gordon's thinking about and I'm glad he's now laying it down in print. This book of poems is funny, poignant and sincere. He covers a lot of ground (Bush, Katrina, Mercedes-Benz, workplace discrimination) and covers it in his own unique style. A few of my favorites are "Music", "M/M", "Is Not Positive" and "Beautician Addiction". I look forward to the spoken word CD as the only thing better than reading Gordon is getting to hear him talk (and giggle).

I had the opportunity to meet John Fox, and I bought his two books then. I have since given them away and had to buy new copies. I found Poetic Medicine particularly useful when I taught high school English. The exercises helped my students deal with grief (that chapter is the best) and depression, and when I've used it, I have felt much better afterwards.

I think this should be a required book in every English teacher's personal library.

There are many exercises in the book to inspire your poetry and many inspirational quotes. I've read it twice and intend to read again, as each time I read it different exercises and examples appeal to me. There is an exercise where you write down all the words that appeal to you in poems, to remind you to use them in your own works.

I"m still working my way through this one, but I'm finding it overall to be helpful... It's a good read, as well, engagingly written and leads me to want to try...

As a literature student, I stayed as far away from poetry as I could. It wasn't just that I preferred fiction Poetry made me feel "less than". I didn't get it, and all the terms were confusing.

Now, as an English teacher in a community college, I get a similar response from my own students, most of whom haven't read much poetry, find it difficult or overwhelming, and don't really see the point.

Even sadder, neither of us have believed we can write poetry. Instead, we have believed that poetry is something only a chosen few can do, something that requires mastering a certain form or stanzaic structure or tapping into the Muse at some deeper level of creativity than most of us are capable of.

It's too bad that only recently have we had John Fox's book Poetic Medicine to show us what poetry really is or can be, a means not only of discovery or creative expression, but also of deep emotional and spiritual healing.

As Rachel Naomi Remen points out in the Preface, "Poetry is simply speaking the truth...and one of the best kept secrets in this technologically oriented culture is that simply speaking the truth heals."

Fox helps us get at our truth and thus heal, via a range of exercises that explore such territory as personal relationships, loss, illness, our connection to the earth, love and pain between parent and child, and the use of traditional poetic tools to merge the spiritual and creative.

These exercises are hugged on either side by text which combines Fox's personal insights and experience, both as a poet and poetry therapist, with concrete examples from his own life and those of former workshop participants. Poems from friends and students, as well as pertinent quotes from other writers, complement and enrich Fox's words.

But these words are not just for those of us who already fancy ourselves poets or writers. One of the great characteristics of this and Fox's other book, Finding What You Didn't Lose, is that Fox, like Natalie Goldberg in Writing Down the Bones and Susan Woolridge in Poemcrazy, give us permission to use writing to discover our own selves.

As in his workshops, Fox's kindness, spiritual depth, and true belief that poetry can help us express the inexpressible come through loud and clear in his tone. He is someone who listens deeply, pays attention to his inner world, and by example, helps us do the same.

John Fox's POETIC MEDICINE: The Healing Art of Poem-Making is a user friendly book. You will find yourself circling phrases, underlining sentences, writing in the margins, completing the expertly crafted exercises and drifting in thought and reflection over poetry that touches your soul. The format also includes a wonderful collection of side bars with poetry and quotes by a wide variety of poets, writers and philosophers.

John's choice of chapter titles are in themselves poetic: "The Fragile Bond" -- expressing poems of pain and love between parent and child, "Landscapes of Relationships -- reflecting on intimacy, marriage and longing, "When God Sighs" -- making poems about loss, illness and death.

As an instructor of a poetry course for seniors, I used many of the exercises in POETIC MEDICINE. Participants who often came hesitantly to the class, were delighted when they discovered they were able to express themselves in poetic form. We also worked with some of the tools and basic elements of poetry which are nicely presented in the book.

POETIC MEDICINE is a book one could choose to use individually too. Expressing personal sorrow and love, poem-making to heal societal wounds, or celebrating earth and nature are all avenues one can explore within its pages.

Rachel Naomi Remen, MD says in the Preface, "Poetry is simply speaking truth", and John's unique book helps us to find truth and to create poems from the heart. It is good medicine for, as Dr. Remen says, "simply speaking truth heals."

I was a poet long before I was a novelist or book reviewer. My first self-published book was a pop up book of poetry which was literally assembled by hand in the 4th grade for a young author's grade school event. In college, I continued to write poetry and fell in love with the words of Frost and Dickinson. Having only recently rekindled my affair with Miss Emily's words, I was eager to read more verse and from a fresh new voice. I'd had much success with the poetry I've reviewed here on the blog to date, so I knew Lulu was the perfect place to start. I didn't have to look far. Poet Harry Gilleland, Jr. had quieried us some time ago with his third collection of poetry entitled Poetic Musings of an Old, Fat Man.

Based on the title alone, I was expecting a book of humorous limericks and rhyming political commentary, and while there are a few of those within the pages, Gilleland offers much more than that. I was completely amazed at his vast but thorough range of subject matter. From a poem about the candiru fish (which is known to lodge itself inside someone's urethra) to another about a pack of vicious ankle biting chihuahuas, Gilleland treats his subject matter with the utmost seriousness. The rhyming technique, verse, and pattern which he uses to craft his so-called "storoems" (story poems) is so unique that you almost forget the humor just for the appreciation of his word use.

The book is divided into four styles of poetry: rhyming and storeoms, limericks (of which there are only two), acrostic poems, and free verse. Gilleland has broken up the candid poems with other verses that are indeed of a more serious subject matter such has having to put a pet to sleep or a child dealing with the divorce of his parents. But his crisp style remains tight and to the point throughout. There are no wasted words, as one of my college professors used to say.

One of the true purposes of poetry for a reader is not just to discover what the poet was intending to convey, but to find how you relate to the poem. Gilleland does a superb job of presenting an array of poems that are easy to understand and will certainly capture the attention, and the heart, of every reader. Some of his well-known subjects came right from the headlines such as the tiger attacks in the California zoo or the effects Hurricane Katrina had on New Orleans. Like conversations we share with old friends, these are events that each of us know in a different way but it's still nice to take the time to listen to someone else's view point.

I particularly liked the sections where Gilleland spends two or three poems on one specific theme. There are two poems about his dogs near the beginning. One is a cheerful poem while the other is very sad. There's another about a soldier having to leave for war, followed by another poem about the soldier in battle, then one about a soldier's death and another about Memorial Day. Each poem can stand completely on its own, but together they capture a nice vignette of words and thoughts.

My favorites were two poems about Hummingbirds. In one, Gilleland ponders the thought of the birds leaving for winter and how he anticipates their return because it means warmer weather will be returning with them. The next poem is about a daughter promising her dying mother she'll continue to feed the hummingbirds after she's gone. The appearance of a white hummingbird becomes the vision of hope and healing after a tragic event.

At 63 years of age and an old Southerner, Gilleland also ponders how the world and technology has changed our social interaction with one another in magnificent poems entitled "I Remember When" and "The Pleasure of Old-Fashioned Letters." His good nature shines in fun verse about women obsessing over their hair, and in another play on words about a man wanting to rub cream on his wife's hard and cracked "pair" in a poem called "Can't Touch Them."

Verse after verse, this poet is to be commended for his true talent with words. I dog eared a dozen pages to possibly quote in this review, but the book must really be experienced as a whole. But you don't have to take my word for it. Just read the number of reviews of praise Harry's books have already received on Amazon.com before me. Even if you don't like poetry all that much or find it hard to understand, Harry Gilleland, Jr. writes with such heart that there is truly something here for everyone. I will leave you with one verse that still resonates with me long after I closed this book...

If humans were able to see their soul
while alive, it would become certain then
that all the virtues they would extol;
the world would be filled with better men.

Not all poets are hipsters sitting on stools in clubs wearing berets. "Poetic Musings of an Old, Fat Man" is the third anthology of Harry Gilleland's work, and fans of the first two will undoubtedly find much to enjoy within. Focusing on the simpler things in life, "Poetic Musings of an Old, Fat Man" is highly recommended. "Louisiana Alligator" : In the bayou lived a big old gator./Everything else feared being lunch later./Cajun and gator tussled./Gator was soon out-muscled./It was stewed with peppers and a tater.

From the title, one would think that "Poetic Musings from an Old Fat Man" is strictly humorous. But in reality this is not the case. Sure, there are several poems within the collection that will make you laugh, but there are others that will evoke different types of emotions, whether it's happiness, sadness or even anger. I myself became emotional at the poem "A Soldier's Death." Why? Well, as a military wife, it presents a scenario that I always fear. But through the poem's brilliant prose, it helps me better understand the soldier's point-of-view. It also helps me appreciate the sacrifices military men and women go through to ensure their families and their country in general remains free.

Another poem that really got to me was "Darfur 2007." In simplistic yet elegant prose, "Darfur 2007" tells how many people are dying from the conflict. It also explains how racism and capitalism continue to fuel the world's apathy towards the situation. But maybe, just maybe if enough people see poems like this perhaps they will start to care.

Anyway, these are just a couple of examples of poems you have to look forward to in "Poetic Musings from an Old Fat Man". Dozens of others are available, each of which are categorized according to their writing style.

All in all, I highly recommend this book. Not only will the poems entertain you, but they will also stimulate your mind, as you begin to ponder some of the lessons they put forth.

This book illustrates my point that seniors should consider expressing their lives and their thoughts in poetic form. This book provides an interesting tour through the author's mind.

In categories including "Rhyming Poems and Storoems (Story Poems)," "Two Limericks," "Acrostic Poems," and "Free Verse Poems," Gilleland writes on many subjects serious and humorous.

"Women Just Don't Get It!" ends with these lines: "Most women simply fail to understand how deep / a man's passion runs. They just don't get it at all. / If they had any inkling, then they wouldn't keep / saying, 'Why get so excited? It's only football.'"

Senior experiences are reflected: "I stand looking wistfully / back at them, my yesterdays . . . / knowing now my yesterdays outnumber my tomorrows." In "What War Is," Gilleland sees war as "Mankind's brutality unleashed," "Failure of reason," "An abomination for all mankind," although he admits that war is sometimes unavoidable.

The final poem, "Ghetto Dweller," is written in the voice of a young man who experienced typical ghetto life: gangs, drugs, prison. "I wasn't 'fraid of nothing or nobody. / And nobody talked down to me." The young man's fate was to be gunned down in the street at age twenty-two. "What you gonna do? / 'Aint no way to break the ghetto cycle. / Just 'aint no way." Gilleland's observations about life in this and most of his other poems ring true.

Reviewed by Cherie Fisher for Reader Views (05/08)

I thoroughly enjoyed "Poetic Musings of an Old, Fat Man" from start to end. I was a little surprised at my reaction to this book, because while I enjoy poems, I am usually not as enthusiastic about books of poetry as I was about this compilation. The third collection by this author is definitely one not to miss reading. Harry Gilleland is a very talented writer and I hope that he does not stop entertaining us with his musings for a very long time.

The collection of poems includes stories about every aspect of life. Some of the poems left me with tears in my eyes, while others had me laughing about life's lighter side. One of the poems titled "Unworthy" is a love letter to the author's wife, Linda. Most people live their whole lives waiting for someone to feel that way about them. There are heartfelt stories about beloved pets, as well as other stories about animals, including an amazing one about a wolf pup. Gilleland spends some time on our political situation as well as the past and present conflicts. He describes the "Spirit of America" and pays tribute to past and present war heroes.

Gilleland touches on the subject of death from the perspective of the person who is dying and the bereaved in several of the poems. "A Soldier's Death" really brings home what is happening on the battlefield and what the last thoughts of the soldier might be. In "My Angel on Earth" he writes about a man who is with his wife of sixty years as she is passing away. In both of these poems and many others, the author captures the moment beautifully.

I applaud Gilleland on creating such a well written, thought provoking book. It is one that I will definitely read again. I highly recommend "Poetic Musing of an Old, Fat Man" to anyone who is looking for an enjoyable book to read this summer or for someone who is looking for a gift to buy for that person who has everything.

The illustrations and the poetry create feelings and emotions which go beyond the pages. Mike Bryces illustrations pull you into the poetry with a style that is breath taking. The poetry will linger in your mind the illustrations in your heart. You will find yourself going to it time and time again.

I cannot think of a better way to introduce the poetry of Edna St. Vincent Millay than this small volume. The selection is excellent and of interest you the young reader. The commentary is quite relevant as are the pictures which accompany it which by the way are worth the price of the book alone. I find that often now, our young people go all the way through the early grades in school and many of them have never heard of Millay much less read her poetry. This was the sort of stuff my generation and the generation before it grew up on and cut our teeth on. I do not feel I am any worse for the wear. I am fearful that we are bringing up an entire generation (rightfully or wrong, although I feel it is the later) of young folks who will have no appreciation to this great art form and will miss a lot. This book helps. This entire series helps, as a matter of fact and I certainly recommend you add this one and the others to your library. Actually, it is rather fun reading these with the young folk and then talking about them. Not only do you get to enjoy the work your self and perhaps bring back some great memories, but you have the opportunity to interact with your child or student. It is actually rather surprising what some of the kids come up with. I read these to my grandchildren and to the kids in my classes at school. For the most part, when I really get to discussing the work with them, they enjoy it. Recommend this one highly.

This will be a reallly personal review.
I first discovered Edna in my senior high school humanities class. When I first read it I thought, "That's so real! That's me! I can relate to that!" She so eloquently put what I wanted to say but was not capable of in my late teens and early 20's into words.
Now that I am past the dating years and finally read a short bio on the author I realize that all I really liked about her writing was that she was a modern day "fast girl" (if you catch my drift). I really feel betrayed because I thought I was so literate and now I wonder what liking her poetry so much said about me.
So now I feel for the author beacause she chose to live in the fast lane and then dull the pain and escape into drugs and alcohol... which maybe was the better choice for her if infamous was on her list of things to become.
Though I do recommend her reading strongly in general because it's romantic and interesting and delightful, I don't think it's appropriate for "young people" with lines like "What lips my lips have kissed"... Unless ofcourse instilling Catholic schoolgirl guilt into your child is at the top of your priority list... or you want to give her poems to read to her boyfriend... or something... use your discretion...

I opened this book at weekly Storytime...my son likes to play with the trains while my daughters listen to the story.. I thought, "I'll just look at this for a moment" and I was transfixed for the entirety of storytime.

Yes, as the other reviewers have stated the illustrations are amazing, the poetry.... mind opening. Another facet of this book is the brief and compelling biography of Edna St. Vincent Millay.

I knew very little about her... now that I know the little that I know from this book, I am hungry for more of her work as well as more of her life.

Excellent book -- I am going to look into other titles in this series as well (The Poetry for Young People ) to see if the others are as above average as this one.

Each illustration could be the focus of additional conversation: I see myself reading these poems repeatedly with my children. They are simple, elegant and timeless.

Picked up this up recently while browsing my local bookstore and was taken aback by the beautiful artwork found in this collection of Edna St. Vincent Millay's poems. I bought it on the spot! Not only are poem's heart-wrenchingly personal and affecting, the watercolor's are a feast for the eyes. I've shown this book to many of my peers who share my enthusiasm and have consequently picked it up as well. Strongly recommended!

Your book is dynamic! Strong, powerful words that reach the hearts and minds of the entire human race, and make them say "Hmmmm! This girl is speaking the truth"! Much love to ya sista' and keep up the excellent work!

This work of literature is an open and honest look at what many people are afraid to express. Ms Johnson has truly confronted the many life situations that are occuring everyday. This work is simply superb. I know that others who read this book will come to the same conclusion. It will lead the reader to an experience the whole gamut of emotions. It is a must read.

Paula your book title "Poetry Is more Than Just A Poem"is unique.I have never read a book such as this one. Keep on writing.The young people and seniors alike should have had this long ago.Thanks for letting us share your gift.

Paula Denise Johnson writes with an honesty and directness that is rarely seen. Her book tackles issues that many people have faced or will face in the world in which we live. She brings the point across that today's issues have to be dealt with here and now. She also lets readers know that bad things happen in our world because we allow it to happen and we can make changes for the better.

I love reading poetry and enjoyed reading this book because through the author's writing, I could feel what she was relaying. This is one book that is written with great depth and meaning. I hope she will write a second book because I can wait to read it!

Contemporary. Urban. Modern. Johnson's voice speaks volumes for those often ignored. Her poetry is compelling. It never lacks honesty, sensitivity or emotion. Often times, her poetry is a living black history lesson, a discourse on Christianity, an exclamation of pride in black womanhood. Through feeling examination of current events, Johnson's book touches to the very heart of the reader.

This little book is filled with meaningful prayers for children that they can easily learn and recite. My own children read it and now my grandchildren are enjoying it and asking for it to be read to them at bedtime.

It is a great Book our Son has one for Bedtime and we wanted the same for our next Baby due any day.

Thanks

This book has been around a long time. When my grandson was little his mother and father read this book to him each night along with several books he was allowed to choose. When I visited him he asked me to read the book, even before his afternoon nap. Ageless......

My 5 year old loves to say a prayer every night and each morning. This book has prayers for all occasions. They are simple for her to remember. The illustrations are wonderful and fit in great with the prayers. She knows which are night time and day time prayers by looking at the pictures. You can never go wrong with Little Golden Books. I look forward to sharing this for years to come!

The amazing invitation in Scripture to actually talk to the Father in Heaven through His Son, is something that every child needs to know.
The world is often a frightening place to little ones. This lovely little book, so beautifully illustrated, helps us teach little ones about a kind, good, powerful Heavenly Father Who cares and hears our prayers.
It also serves to link generations in a communal perspective because the prayers in this wee book were offered up by grandparents and parents of past generations. I am delighted that it is still available! In a world where selfish ambition drives and greed thrives, this little book directs focus to another realm and encourages excellence: God, make my life a little song/That comforteth the sad,/That helpeth others to be strong/ And makes the singer glad.

Barbara Crooker's RADIANCE is aptly titled and captures her joy and wonder in all that surrounds her and us. As I read this collection, I flagged pages of favorite poems until I realized I was marking nearly every page. These well-crafted poems are playful and touching, a glimpse at not only one poet's desire for MORE of life's riches, but also an awareness of love and living's ephemeral nature. Crooker is a wordsmith with fresh phrases that recall her youth in the fifties and sixties -- and the youth of her peers. She is candid about the frustrations of raising an autistic son, with descriptions of his discomfort as well as his love for all things "perforated: toilet paper, graham crackers, coupons/ in magazines loves the order of the tiny holes,/ the way the boundaries are defined." She questions, "if I've done enough to deserve this life/ I've been given. A pile of sorrow, yes, but joy/ enough to balance the equation."

With these beautiful poems, she shows us she is more than deserving of our praise.

For other poets, this book is charming as well as instructive. If you're new to poetry or have been afraid to trudge through the sometimes-rocky terrain of contemporary poems, you'll be very glad you took your first steps here.

ACHIEVING RADIANCE by Linnea Johnson
This Book Review was published in Summer 2007 PRAIRIE SCHOONER
RADIANCE: POEMS BY BARBARA CROOKER, Word Press, 2005 ($17)
Winner of the Word Press First Book Prize
Word Press, P.O. Box 541106, Cincinnati, Ohio 45254-1106

The three-plus pages of single-spaced acknowledgments attest to the fact that Barbara Crooker is one of the best poets you've been able to read only every now and then. Writing her entire adult life and now a grandmother, this is her very first full-length collection of poems; a fact to give all poets pause, even as one splashes into the lightstream of finally being able to read this perfect book.
Like the Impressionists Crooker daubs into the lyrics and onto the palette of her poems
...these iris rise
writhe, charmed like snakes by the song of the sun.
The wild blue heart of longing moves up, up,
from papery rhizomes...
["Iris, 1889"]

she has proceeded without standard imprimatur and brouhaha. Like the Impressionists, too, Crooker has succeeded. With a minim here, a tittle there, an iota virtually everywhere, she's been nominated for seventeen Pushcart Prizes; she is the author of ten chapbooks and more than four hundred fifty published poems; she has had ten residencies at the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts; Stanley Kunitz judged the Thomas Merton Poetry of the Sacred competition which she won; and for her terrific, wit-whipped poem, "Nearing Menopause, I Run Into Elvis at Shoprite," and read by Alfre Woodard on the 1997 audio collection, Grow Old Along With Me --The Best is Yet to Be, she was nominated for a Grammy.
RADIANCE, divided into six parts, opens with "All That Is Glorious Around Us" and closes with "Poem Ending with a Line by Rumi," establishing a frame of the "grand vistas, sublime peaks, mist-filled overlooks, and towering clouds" of the luminous paintings referenced by the poem's title and the Thomas Worthington Whittredge oil painting, "Kaaterskill Falls," reproduced on this book's cover. Immediately, Crooker tells us that "everything is glorious around us" including "doing errands on a day of driving rain". Full of journeying water, red and gold leaves, rocky escarpment, panoramic landscape, the "glories of breath" and how her mother struggles to breathe, this poem causes us to notice "small rainbows of oil on the pavement" in juxtaposition with the oil paintings of The Hudson River School of art.
"There are hundreds of ways to kneel and kiss the ground" is Rumi's line of poetry with which Crooker closes the book. Everything here, too, is "glorious around us". The line before Rumi's, one of Crooker's, leaves us in the hushed and tawny silence of a late autumn, "...so deep, the only sound, leaf falling on leaf".
In this volume of 84 pages/50 poems Crooker re-constitutes Aix-en-Provence, Paris, Shoprite, and a grammar lesson; she pegs wash onto a line, calls hawks from the sky, blazes iris, peonies, and sunflowers to life, gives us the Shozui temple, lilacs, licks of desire, red and blue, the gyre, Deconstructionism, a comet and an opossum.
In "The Comet and the Opossum" Crooker, out at night, momentarily balances on transience, like a tightrope walker teetering on a highwire timeline, seeing light from a 20,000 years ago comet even as she notices the familiar backyard opossum diminish to bones alone, bones which might still be where she is now 20,ooo years hence.
Last night, looking up at the inky blackness, I felt myself
shrink, smaller than the smallest bones in the opossum's tail,
and then I found the comet one last time...

When into words she forms her son's autism, her friend's cancer, or any of the other galvanic, tearing, breaking things of life, she isn't confessional or asking for pity, she's creating `the made thing'. In a 2005 interview, she says, "I don't look at writing as a form of self-expression, but rather, the love of the made thing, like a hand-thrown bowl or oil on canvas. I try to do what William Stafford said,"I have woven a parachute out of everything broken".
This is all there is: the red cherries, the green leaves,
sky like a pale silk dress, and the rise and fall
of the sweet breeze. Sometimes, just what you have
manages to be enough.
["Happiness"]

This poet explores, as do few others, generating love again and again within an old love, a long-nurtured love.
Two stubborn people, dulled into habit
stuck in the old sock of marriage, might just fall in love again
["Possibly"]


..Often, I slip a hand under
your body to anchor myself to this earth... ["Away in Virginia..."]

"Tangled up in love, running out of time," Crooker writes:
...Our children almost grown,
our parents gone, it happened so fast. Each day we must learn
again how to love, between morning's quick coffee
and evening's slow return...
["In the Middle"]

Indeed, in "Irrational Numbers" it's as if the mathematics of the couple is solved and resolved by neither want nor longing nor desire, but, instead, because they are elemental as color and day, and geometry, "...the angle/ of intersection, where we come together..."
In RADIANCE we learn, too, what Crooker was doing the day Jerry Garcia died, how corn grows, the nature of happiness and crows, the landscapes of motherhood, growing food, and the infinite. Whether her subject is politics or maternal grief, Crooker is neither troubled nor neurotic. The cyclical, non-idealized world is her home and she belongs to it, it to her. She knows how this mysterious as-is world works through her work, some of which is finally in one place together, and which we are finally privy to, thanks to RADIANCE.
They speak in tongues; whole glossolalia rolls
out of their beaks. Their song is unmusical, industrial,
like a wrench on metal. They rise in a dark river,
fly past the redbuds next to the cherries, a small stream
of violets underneath...
["Quiscalus, Quiscula"]

In this poem, too, she tells us to "Love whatever you can," and that "night is always bearing down". She is a wizard of unsentimental passion!
And, Crooker brandishes a lucid sense of humor --rooted and witty-- along with her other knowing, going senses. In "Twenty-five Years of Rejection Slips" Crooker plumbs the familiar writers' abyss of sending out work to editors hoping to get one's poems Out There and into the Grand Conversation of literary publication chatter, but, instead, usually facing "the great steamroller of indifference," mailboxes empty of acceptance letters; the learning to be content with "...the hot buzz of the cicadas' applause".

...Look at the stanzas
of light in the locust leaves as they bob and weave
in the hot July wind, their effortless green repetition
and refrain. Why not give it up now?

What, she asks rhetorically, does it matter if she reads her work only to the "cardinals and wrens" !
But, she is writing this poem, after all, because most days are her poem's "tomorrow" when "...a clean sheet comes up/in the roller, and we[`ll] start all over again".
Onto that clean sheet in the typewriter's roller, Crooker presses the materials of her art, such as using the sonnet form and the line break in fresh ways.
For instance, the first eight lines of Crooker's blank verse, iambic pentameter sonnet, "Some October," asks someone (and not God), if the `Me' of the poem has done enough "to deserve this life," if she's "made a difference," then turns to "today," "the wind pour[ing] out of Canada," the equation of joy unbalancing sorrow, even at the end of the green seasons, in October. We, too, are drawn into Crooker's copper woods and into the blue sky to see the "...twilight, when the clouds stream from the west/ like the breath of God..." When and because the meter is broken in the "little song's" envoi, we ask ourselves the questions she asks her Someone to ask her again during that "some twilight," and we wonder then what else besides the meter is broken.
In "Star of Wonder, Star of Light," it's a particular choice of line break which unhinges us. Coming out of "the accident" in the first line of the poem, that accident unexplained before or after the mention, her line break in the second line leaves "My husband and children [are] hanging".
In the third line we see that they are hanging...lights on a Christmas tree. But she has jangled our nerves with, first, that unexplained "accident" and then, with that minor chord "hanging family" all swaddled in what could otherwise seem to be a typical happy family scene. After all, she begins the poem, "It's Christmas..." --so informal and signaling happiness that one could insert a perky "hey," but no:
Shadows gather behind the hills. The tree turns dark green,
then black...

Or maybe yes. Here's how the poem concludes:
husband, son, and daughter in a circle around the tree,
their arms full of stars.



Crooker is both student and author of movement and gesture, creating the spontaneity and pith of real life. Her dimensional impressions tether life as much as is possible, sometimes foreshortening time in order to paint a whirling candid music sans mythology. With the best of them, she captures fleeting inner voices of light and color. One might say of Crooker as Andre Mellerio said of Cezanne, "One might say that Cezanne wishes to restore intact to each object...its true and essential radiance".
For pure bravura sparkle-and-spangle sumptuousness infused with the pulse and fire of everyone's love of all things chlorophyllic, from Hildegarde von Bingen's "green finger of God" to Dylan Thomas' "green fuse," Crooker praises "what comes from the dirt" in "Vegetable Love," her litany of color, taste, sound, scent, palpable sensation of roundness, pull and sink of roots, the "cool jade ruffles" of lettuces, and that "dark blood of the earth," beets...
And basil, sweet basil, nuzzled
by fumbling bees drunk on the sun.

Crooker accomplishes what poetry can accomplish --creating the dimensional from the flat, light from black type on white paper, real life from the raw; juggling the hit-or-miss music of life.

In "evening's violet cashmere" in "In Aix-en-Provence"
...Where breakfast is a flaky
roll that shatters when I bite it, that sings like the sun
in my mouth. Where lunch is a ripe pear...

she says that:
...On the last day of my life, I'd like
to be working, like Cezanne, even if it means being pulled home
in a laundry cart and dying of pneumonia. I want to be out there,
singing...

Of the dozen or so writers I need to read, Barbara Crooker is foremost among them. Each element of a radiant, achieving life is present in this bright, working book, these poems which illuminate all at once life's layered and complex realities. Glorious. Radiant. RADIANCE is a book which poets and non-poets will be buying for, and reading to, each other for years to come. Thinking of Alicia Ostriker, I tell you that one can read RADIANCE by the light of the poems themselves.

This lovely new collection of poems by Barbara Crooker is a treasure. True to its title, the book, and each poem in it, shines from within. There is a sense of the sacred in this volume, and, as the author explores such varied themes as art history, travel, caring for an autistic child, aging and illness, and love in a long-term relationship, we feel her steadfast searching for God in the darkness. At the same time, this spiritual seeking is wedded to gentle humor and a down-to-earth look at ordinary things like eating corn on the cob, watching the slow decay of a dead opossum, or pinning wash on the line. Regardless of subject, each poem is delivered in lush, lyrical language rich with sensory images. And while Crooker's work is accessible, this collection is not simplistic. There is mystery here and a pleasing complexity in the delicate layers of her poems. RADIANCE, winner of the Word Press First Book Prize, is surely a light in the darkness.

Here's a first collection that could pass for a tenth collection. There's no stumbling here, no weak poems used as filler. It's one gem of a poem after another. Crooker's range of topics is wide: family, sewing, birds, the things of this earth, France, paintings, animals, Elvis. The range of moods is also wide. Dark shadows pass through the collection: the sorrows of a disabled child, an elderly mother coping with health problems, a world sometimes gone haywire. But love for this life overrides grief. The sorrow of one poem is balanced out by poems such as "Corny," a three-part poem which celebrates the many varieties of corn and makes us want to run to the nearest farm stand. Throughout the collection the reader feels exhilarated by Crooker's passion and gratitude, her heightened awareness of the earth's beauty, its radiance. Here's a poet who knows how to choose the right words, how to create images, and how to make music of poetry. Listen to these lines from "A Congregation of Grackles": "Scruffy lawns / turn a little greener, daylight preens, spreads / its feathers. Grackles fan their wings,/ and clatter and clack in the maple trees, / making a racket that passes for song." These poems, too, pass for song.

When people in my workshops ask me how to improve their poetry, I tell them to read poems by good poets. Those who read Barbara Crooker's new anthology "Radiance," winner of the Word Press First Book Prize, are in for both a treat and a lesson in writing.
As I read her poems cover to cover, I enjoyed old favorites and discovered new ones.
If you ask yourself why you continue writing poems, consider Barbara's response in "Sunflowers":

When we're gone, what will be left of our small
songs and minor joys? Still, when I drive by a wheat field
turning ochre and amber, every awn and arista shouting sun!
` sun! sun! something in me rises, makes me look
for a scrap of paper, a pencil nub,
even as the hot wind lifts,
blows the dust we are, carries it away.

Notice that Barbara uses words which make us see in a fresh way.
Have we ever looked closely at our world so that we notice the awns[italicize , or bristles, on each head of wheat?
Those of us who have submitted our poetry for publication can
relate to her poem "Twenty-five Years of Rejection Slips." The speaker
asks,
How many trees have been pulped
for this constant susurrus: sending, resending,
shuffling, sorting?
Even the name submission [italicize] suggests a certain deference,
servility, prostration: lying down in front of the mailbox,
and letting the great steamroller of indifference flatten
me into the ground.

Have you ever mailed a rustling, or susurrus [italicize], of papers to an editor?
Have you been flattened by the steamroller of rejection?

In her poems, Barbara celebrates the world in which we live.
Her exuberance is evident in the title poem "All That Is Glorious Around Us."
She celebrates ordinary things and people:

Reading Berryman to the Dog is a fine first book by an accomplished writer. You'll go back and back to these startling, satisfying poems. Carlisle's is one of the truly original voices in contemporary poetry. The poems are sensuous, muscular, textured. You won't soon forget "The Redhead Conjures Him Up" or "Questions for Joe": "In March you were there,.../wearing a broad expanse of belly, by June/you were gone...." If you're tired of tired poems, this book will revive you.

Reading Berryman to the Dog is a fine first book by an accomplished writer. You'll go back and back to these startling, satisfying poems. Carlisle's is one of the truly original voices in contemporary poetry. The poems are sensuous, muscular, textured. You won't soon forget "The Redhead Conjures Him Up" or "Questions for Joe": "In March you were there,.../wearing a broad expanse of belly, by June/you were gone...." If you're tired of tired poems, this book will revive you.

I met Wendy at a poets' workshop in Arkansas back in June 1996: her turf, not mine. Imagine me, a New York Jew whose marriage was headed toward the shoals forming an alliance with another middle-aged writer, in the middle of Wal-Mart country. She's just about the only person I kept up with from that week in northern Arkansas, and over the years we've exchanged writing and confidences. And now there's this book...and nothing prepared me for the power in it. All the "reviewer words" apply: serene, savage, beautiful. I read the title poem to my Significant Other the night the book arrived and when I was done I had unexpected and unwanted tears in my eyes. You don't read work this fine every day...which is why Wendy's writing stands out as clearly as Wendy herself.

Another voice from the tough and moving tribe of modern woman poets. (see Kim Addonizio, Joan Larkin & Belle Waring). Carlisle's poems are well crafted and sharp.

Buy a copy.

Another voice from the tough and moving tribe of modern woman poets. (see Kim Addonizio, Joan Larkin & Belle Waring). Carlisle's poems are well crafted and sharp.

Buy a copy.

Arranged in five parts, with each segment unfolding to reveal the constant yet changeable essence of relationships, the poetry of Anthony B. Ashe as compiled in "Relationship Related And Other Poetry" is contemporary in their themes and universal in their appeal. These are very highly recommended and intellectually stimulating free verse compositions that deftly utilize metaphor, simile and symbolism to reveal complex elements of human kinship. 'Kiss Me Now': succulent lips/or forever hold your piece//keep the measurement and directions/we're not trading recipes//cook with raw/unadulterated skin on skin//;when we scream/when we moan/when we writhe and grind//are you giving all to me?/does that make you mine?

Reviewed by Debra Gaynor for Reader Views (6/07)

Anthony Ashe offers a unique poetic look at relationships. One part of the book speaks to physical relationships. It is obvious he has experienced a deep love for someone. His words speak of missing a loved one's touch, and of lips meeting for a tender kiss. He speaks of being comfortable in one's presence "like flannel bathrobes." He tells how the touch of a lover is a gift to be cherished.

"Was It You" is like looking in a mirror and wondering who that person is. As we age, our appearance changes but sometimes we forget that now our hair is gray and our waistline is different. We look at others and wonder why they are changing but we don't always look at ourselves.

"Friday, In the Crowd at The Nuyorican Poet's Café" is a delightfully sensuous poem hinting at the thoughts a lover has for their mate. I will share this one.

Ashe uses his poetry to reflect upon days gone by. He poetically tells of the nightmare of slavery, the result of living in poverty and the damage of alcoholism.

The words of talented author Anthony B. Ashe flow off the page like a brook of water streaming over moss covered rocks. The cover of "Relationship Related and Other Poetry" is exquisite! A man with his wife posing for a photograph, his arm gently draped over her shoulder as if to show how much he loves her and is proud she is his. The smile on his face says it all. The words Ashe used to describe relationships also say it all. He uses words to create a picture of people in love. I could relate several of the poems to my own relationships. "Musings" was one of my favorites. I recommend "Relationship Related and Other Poetry" to fans of poetry.

Anthony Ashe is regarded as an experienced poet who possesses a range and poetic forms as variant as Haiku and Villanelle, and at times everything in between. The poems are enticing and the delivery is acute.

From the succulent musing appropriately titled 'Musings', he shares the soothing, enticing cocoon that elevates a contented heart even when doing a task as mundane as laundry. 'Romancing and Alone' takes readers in another direction, into the depths of a lonely heart yearning for deliverance. 'My Metaphors and I are Mixed in Your Presence' is a Pandora's Box for lovers of metaphoric verbosity; it will tickle the intellect. These are mere tips of the iceberg as Ashe launches his thoughts.

RELATIONSHIP RELATED AND OTHER POETRY is richly political, but candid enough to connect the reader to the subject. Ashe successfully lends his flair for combining the serious academic study of one art form with street and cultural maturity. His tendency toward classic meter and rhythm are inspired by how he revels in reality that he camouflages with the feel of something fantastic. This is poetry that draws its life from the aura of relationships. If you are in a relationship or simply longing for one, RELATIONSHIP RELATED AND OTHER POETRY is something worth experiencing.

Reviewed by aNN
of The RAWSISTAZ Reviewers

Someone once told me that writing good poetry is the same as dancing well; all rhythm and steps placed effortlessly, words gliding images across a page. I have never seen Anthony B. Ashe dance but after reading his book Relationship Related and Other Poetry I know he must cut a rug till it's threadbare.

True to its title Ashe's poems are interconnected by the theme of relationships. They are grouped by romantic involvement and also by a more spiritual association. Part One is full of lips and hips and jazz wrapped up in summer sunset beaches and chocolate covered metaphors. These poems are sultry but in no way cliché and are not retailed, as Ashe puts it in his last line of the book, when he writes, "we pimp our verse for valentines." These are poems with form, where you can become lost in the space of rhythm. They are smart with a subtle humor. I love the poem My Metaphors and I are Mixed in your Presence. It flaunts wit with lines like "I'll refrain from trite verbosity / and acceptable lyrical latitude / in avoidance / of tending toward the obtuse." Other poems are more sensual. I loved Friday, In the Crowd at The Nuyorican Poet's Café. It is full "of things that would make you blush" and is the kind of poem you could read across a pillow. It is lovely in all the right places.

The second part of Relationship Related is a collection of poems that are more political and also more somber. These are poems that reflect upon the past and are haunted by themes of slavery, poverty, and alcoholism. Though their subject is darker than the first collection these poems are not bitter and have great zeal. Ashe's sense of style in the poem Blackstone gives power and depth to a subject that could otherwise be made prosaic. The first and last stanzas really hooks the reader "Stone cold / Like black rock / Like black stone / Like Blackstone, Virginia" and "Just cold / Like cold rock or / Black stone in / Red Clay in / Blackstone, Virginia."

Ashe's collection of poetry has me relating images and experiences of my own to the subjects of his written muse. I find we have a relationship related. This is by far one of the best collections of poetry I have read in a long while. Ashe's writing is studied and complex. I find myself rereading and still pondering much of it. If you are thirsty for poems Relationship Related and Other Poems is a fine wine, so don`t gulp!

There is this great perception masking itself under the catch phrase "universal" and some warped idea of political correctness causing a number of black writers (or any writer of color) to bury their cultural identity and in many cases their politics for larger success in the literary world. In the process, many have become what Langston Hughes termed "lily ponds," art by black writers which evades any kind of social context to imitate so-called mainstream standards devoid or divorced from the slightest hint of cultural identity. Anthony Ashe, happily to report, doesn't fall into this class of writers. As the back cover of RELATIONSHIP RELATED AND OTHER POETRY suggests, Ashe exhibits styles called Haiku and Villanelle, but the difference is he makes them his own without giving up his identity as one proud to be black and and proudly political.

Ashe's book of poetry is divided up into two parts, Relationships Related I and Relationships Related II. The first half of the book pretty much concerns interpersonal relationships with black women who Ashe reveals a great deal of respect, admiration, and love towards, a political stance itself today. Hughes has been described as the first and only black male feminist for his platonic attitudes of respect and admiration toward black woman in his entire body of work . If the first portion of this book is any indication, the resolutely and enthusiastically straight Ashe will soon join Hughes in this honor. One of the many standout poems in this section is "Romancing and Alone" which those concerned with the universal element can admire because it speaks to everyone regardless. Reading many of the poems here, the immediate sense is how great they would sound spoken aloud. Poems like "Flavah or," "Big Sistah Thighs," or Ode to Youthful Romance on the Upper West Side Prior to Gentrification.", all of them honestly.

Relationships Related II is perhaps most political and strongest part of the book. Here, it is pretty difficult to choose one particular poem to highlight. "Writing Block (prior to September 25, 1985)," "Mobility Justification," and "Postcard Ruminations" are reads not to be missed. All the reads in part 2 are not to be missed.

Overall, the best thing about Relationships Related and Other Poetry is the readability of the work. It doesn't pretend to be above the head of anyone, but is accessible to everyone. Anthony Ashe should be proud of himself.

This book was give to my daughter for Christmas when she was 18 mos old. It is a wonderful book depicting various stories in the Bible. They are very short and told in verse form. 'God made the land/And God made the sea,/God made the flowers/And God made me.' and 'David was/ A shepherd boy,/Who sang to God/Great songs of joy!' Each story is accompanied by a lift the flap or touch and feel picture which makes it interesting and fun for little ones. I give it 4 stars because it is in spiral bound form and the pages are easily taken apart by busy little hands. I keep it separate from my daughter's other books and read it to her instead of letting her 'read' to herself and thus removing the pages. Other than this drawback, it is an excellent book.

My three year old loves to be read to from this bible. He asks for specific stories by name! He enjoys it as much as any of his secular, popular books.

I am a KJV only but, this is great for children. I was amazed at how smooth the stories flowed. A must in every home library. wonderful pictures. I also bought the toddlers version. RHYME, RHYME, SPEEDS THE TIME.....

My kindergarted sunday school class loves it. They pay attention, then beg to read it again. I have an audio tape version that I play while I just turn the pages. Unlike some children's translations, this one is truly age appropriate for young children. The rhymes and paraphrasing are exceptionally clever.

Original Bible Stories(unchanged) told in rhyme form. A marvelous way to teach children God's stories, and a marvelous way for them to be able to remember the stories. Simplicity in the eyes of a child. Wonderful, wonderful! Wish I had this when my children where samll.