Poetry Books

The complete poems of Constantin Cavafy (1873-1933), a Greek language poet who lived most of his life in Alexandria, Egypt as a government clerk and who was unpublished during his lifetime but is now considered one of the major poets of the past century. The poetry of Cavafy (there are other alternative transliterations of his name) is simple (you always get what he is talking about, which is not often the case with 20th Century poetry) yet haunting. There are two main undercurrents in his poems: the classical world (where you get his wit and erudition) and stories of homosexual love (not explicit by modern standards, but certainly daring for its time and probably one of the reasons he decided not to publish his work). Sometimes these two themes overlap in his poems (as in the superb Myres, Alexandria, 340 AD), but often not. Julian the Apostate appears in many of his poems, since one of the undercurrent in his poems is a nostalgia for classical paganism and a criticism of Christianity for destroying that world. My own favorite poems are Waiting for the Barbarians (maybe his best known work), Myres but most of his poems are exceptional.

Cavafy writes what is in his heart. This complete collection is excellent and worth owning.

I have only recently come to read the other translations of Cavafy's work and I still like this one best. Dalven's translation flows, the words - both in choice and placement - just seem more evocative and well-suited to the poems. Other translations seem... awkward somehow, with extra words at the end of lines that spoil the tone, or with terms that don't carry the same weight or charm.

I do recognize the frustration that Greek readers must feel at the lack of rhyme or rhythm. (I certainly feel that way when I see my beloved Cyrano butchered whenever it's translated from its gorgeous, flowing, rhyming French.) But from the perspective of one who could never, unfortunately, appreciate the original as it was meant to be appreciated, Dalven gives me a Cavafy who makes me dream, who makes me sad, and who seamlessly sparks emotion. These are poems that I can read to others in English, and which seem almost like they were written as unrhyming poems IN English. Doubtlessly some of the brilliance involved in their creation is lost on me, and it could not be otherwise considering the language barrier. But honestly, having seen some of the other translations out there, I am not sure I would have even become a Cavafy fan if not for Rae Dalven.

candles ithaca speaks and compering for life it is amazing.

Among the poets of the twentieth century, there is maybe one who can confidently say, "I am better than Cavafy." Yet, on a top five list of the twentieth century's greatest poets, Cavafy is far less likely to appear than, say, Dylan Thomas, Allen Ginsberg, Elizabeth Bishop, Philip Larkin, or W. H. Auden, yet Cavafy's work can stand against any of these.

Poets tend to squabble with tired questions, faith vs. reason, contemplation vs. experience, knowledge vs. serenity, life vs. language, etc. Cavafy, the Alexandrian Greek, does not squabble. Whether Cavafy's poems are about politics, art, or love (and those on the latter are the finest), it is as if his principal questions are answered before he writes the poem. Cavafy would never write a poem depicting the conflict between seamy, audacious amours and upright society. Instead, he goes ahead and writes about seamy, audacious amours, and at the end reminds us that upright society doesn't understand, that it makes "stupid comparisons."

And all of this Cavafy does with a fleeting tone (a la John Keats) that appears to be chiseled into marble (a la Ovid), at once the slightest and weightiest thing you've ever read.

Positively a must read and must own for any self-respecting poetry enthusiast.

Book by Robert Service The Cremation of Sam McGee, I am 70yrs. old, when I was a child my father would read with great expression this story to me and my 6 siblings. I always thought as an adult I should have dad tape his reading. I waited too long and dad died. I read where this was now available with amazing art. I purchased the book and have read it to my grandchildren. They love it. Frequently dad would say"A promise made,is a debt unpaid" I was amazed to find where he got that saying, it was from the Cremation of Sam McGee story

Robert Service wrote of the Yukon and the severity of that area. Check it out, you may just find this a fun story to read and share.

I loved this poem and laughed...enjoyed...and re-read it. Just a fun tale and the illustrations are really quite vivid and enlightening adding a quality to the storyline.

I saw this book in my son's school library and bought it through Amazon the very same day. A great rhyming story to read aloud. My son and I both enjoy reading this book. Highly recommended!

I recently saw this poem recited in a vaudeville show in the Yukon. A couple of days later when I saw the book I just had to buy it. Although the story is morbid, I think the sound of the words and the colorful pictures will appeal to my 10-month old grandson (if he's allowed to hear it read). Great book!

I recently saw this poem used effectively with a sixth grade Social Studies class studying the Yukon Gold Rush. The poem with it's morbid/supernatural theme is intriguing to kids in the middle school years and the colorful yet somewhat archaic and ambiguous language led to a great beginning Socratic Seminar. This type of "picture book" should be used more often with older students and as another reviewer mentioned this poem would make a great extension to a literature unit on narrative poems or as a supplemental reading to a classic novel like Jack London's CALL OF THE WILD. And though I had never heard this poem before someone recently told me it is a classic to tell around the campfire especially when camping in the snow.

...this book resonated with my lifestyle because I'm also a foreigner who settled in this country over fifteen years ago.

I loved these stories and it's a good read for anyone to understand what is behind the person next door, the shop owner down the street, or the student sitting next to you.

It reminds you that we all have stories and we need to be careful about judging those we don't know. There is a reason behind their ways and culture. Take the time to talk to people and learn about them as much as they learn about the culture of this country.

Great book

I had to read this book for a freshman lit course and I must say, it was such a wonderful read that it never felt like work. I'd buy another copy in a heartbeat if mine was lost. Excellent work!

A great job done by the authors for a multimedia piece that reflects America's melting pot story. The people are real and the work itself should inspire immigrants and descendants of immigrants to share the experience. I found the CD fascinating as a work to be enjoyed with the book. A wonderful job! I look for more work by the authors.

The book is well done except the authors failed to include the ethnicity that was and continues to be among the largest immigrant group, the Irish. The authors dropped the ball on that one.

If there was ever a time when we needed to be reminded that immigrants are the heart and soul of what makes this a textured, rich and interesting country, this is it. This book and its companion museum exhibit, which I was lucky enough to come upon serendipitously at Purchase College's Neuberger Museum, celebrates the gifts we have received as a nation from the diverse people who have struggled first to get here, and then to make a life for themselves here. Before we build walls on borders, before we villify those who are different from us, let's appreciate what we are gaining from the immigrants who choose the US as their home. Let's remember that very few of us are Native American. We have all benefitted from the open door to America.

W. Eric Croomes writes from an eclectic sociological view of the relationships African-Americans face today. Researching deep into our past and bringing it all forward into today's world. Will make you think deeply. Not a book one can read lightly. I have found myself referring more than once back to this book in explaining relationships and the way we deal with them to young people I work with and to my own daughter. The poems are artfully written and thought provoking. The story of Kwasi Benefo will make you think time and time again. Why, how, am I making these mistakes in my relationships and how do they relate to me in the here and now. I have pages dog eared and underlined to refer back to. An important read and study into the psyche of the African-American relationship. I recommend this book highly!

DANCE IN THE DARK offers reflections that explores the concept of love and culture in the African American community from past to present day. Along with poetry, Croomes incorporates history and mythology as he addresses the complexity of the issues at hand and how it has impacted us as a people. Croomes offers several interesting pieces throughout the book including "Letters to Eve," "The Edge of Love," and "Diary of an Ex-Queen".

When I first picked up W. Eric Croomes' DANCE IN THE DARK, I was looking forward to seeing a different but unique perspective from the poetic standpoint. While DANCE does offer a beautiful variety of poetry, the heavy commentary that is presented throughout takes away from the book's overall essence.

While Croomes offers poetry that is both passionate and intriguing, my main criticism is that the various essays take away from the book overall. There were times where I felt that I wasn't reading a poetry book due to the content at hand. While I found DANCE IN THE DARK to be interesting, from a poetic standpoint it didn't captivate me as other poets have. Despite this, I do commend Mr. Croomes on a worthy effort.

Reviewed by Kanika (Nika) Wade
of The RAWSISTAZ Reviewers

I must admit that I've never been one to purchase and actually read a book of poetry but this one was truly different. This is not your average book of poems. Through this literature you experience various avenues of life as well as cultural events that take you back to the beginning of the Civil Rights movement and beyond. I thoroughly enjoyed reading "Dance in the Dark..." and would recommend it to anyone that enjoys reading.

Powerful. Dance in the Dark is a romantic masterpiece. Each page illuminate heart felt words that move in a rhythm that captivate the spirit. The author of Dance in the Dark pours himself into this beautiful work. Only one that has truly taken a look inside of himself can write like this. It's not difficult at all to hear his voice throughout the book. Mr. Croomes has learned to "Dance in the Dark" and challenges us to dance as he leads us on a journey of spiritual truths of love that dares us to find purpose.

This book was wonderfully written. Readers will understand how the author relates not to just one but many aspects of our lives today. Highly recommend.

An award winning anthology of poetry, "Dark Card", is Rebecca Foust's reflections on dealing with her Asperger's Syndrome afflicted Autistic son. The poetry within explains why the chap book is award winning, and why the titular poem was nominated for 2007 Pushcart prize. "Dark Card" is an excellent collection, to be considered by poetry fans everywhere. "Underneath": His face is blank as a kettle pond/dawn, but he feels everything/there is underneath-- //tadpoles, minnows, sunfish, perch/fish-hooks, tangled lines,/frays of fat yarn algae strands,//filaments tethering lily stars/that from above seem free to skim,/milky writhe of swimmers' legs//mossed undersides of floats,/surprising truth of sailboat keels,/their iceberg depth.

The twenty seven linked poems of Dark Card, winner of the 2007 Robert Phillips Poetry Chapbook award, turn on the poet's experience of raising her son, born with Asperger's syndrome. The narrative arc travels from grief and white-hot anger, to Foust's difficulty in accepting all aspects of her child's disability, opening finally onto transformative acceptance-- a state of grace, perhaps. The resonance of recurring themes and images help mould this collection into an almost novelistic whole.

Foust shows us her gifted, afflicted child as he is. We learn about the syndrome's manifestations, the child's neurological deficits, the wrong-headed practices of institutions responsible for him. When, in the title poem, the boy creates a scene at school, we are shown the coping mechanisms of his mother, as well: she plays the "dark card of the idiot savant ... /...It's my ploy to exorcise their pitchforks and torches/... But it's a swindle, a flimflam, a lie/ a not-celebration of what he sees/with his inward-turned eye:/the patterns in everything---"
The poet's emotions overflow the page. She rages against the possible sources of her son's syndrome. Like a tongue to a tooth, the author worries "...that Gordian- knot neck-throttled curse, /that gene-encrypted, linked-chain curse,//that DES-taken-by-his grandmother curse,/that fumble-fingered-fool-doctor-shaped curse..." . She spits out her indictments in diatribes worthy of the name. Her anger hits its target in "Palace Eunuch":

Don't say you were trying to be kind,
you ball-less prick soft dick eunuch
cowardly coin-counting conservator.
You were practically pissing yourself
in your fear of malpractice,
you were shaking in your green paper booties.

These poems show the many ways in which the quality of life argument is entirely subjective. We see how the boy's behaviors set him apart and make him singular, but we get a rounder view here than in disability poetry purely from the patient's POV (The Hospital Poems by Jim Ferris comes to mind). In one of the best poems, "Asperger Ecstasy," Foust observes the activities that make her son "vibrate with joy." "It can be tying flies under a microscope, knot patterns / the size of this period. It can be cataloging washing / machine brands or the note variations in a symphony, / or committing to memory for joyous recounting / the entire year's schedule for the El-train." As she makes peace with his differences, she begins to celebrate them: "He makes/ meaning from acorns,/ the sky,/knotted bits/ of string." (The Visitation) We watch her empathy swell. She makes us believe her when she says that her son "loves who he is."

Foust's use of poetic devices is as expert as her emotional spectrum is varied. Her line breaks reveal meaning in fresh ways, and her use of sound is a mark of her craft---the sustained vowels throughout "Instrument," the single word lines in the final strophe of "Firstborn," echoing the child's first thin breath; the compound words that heighten the passion in her teeth-gnashing rants. There are allusions to Emily Dickinson's feathered hope and Temple Grandin's empathy, and Foust raises the hair on the reader's arm when she says about her baby, "You freeze my heart to stone/when I measure your foot with my thumb."(No Longer Medusa).

The author reconciles the grim with the hopeful in Dark Card, and her voice never wavers in its fierce emotional honesty. And when, in the extraordinary final poem, the recurring image of her son's Gordian knot "unravels with his years, unwinds, unfolds,/lets loop out in vast uncoiling spirals/whole archives of text,/found worlds," we are moved. The poet has succeeded in making the personal universal. We close the covers, uplifted by Rebecca Foust's courage and her compassionate song.

Life as art ... there is a special gift in the ability to share one's life as art, to issue a challenge to each beholder, to trigger a deeper reaching within and without, to one's coming away changed. The amazingly insightful cover and the signpost of a title dare us to pass through this doorway, to accept the challenge to go beyond and experience what these travelers before us offer to share. Will any two come away with the same experience? I don't think so. For me this journey was worth the beauty, love, and mystery revealed along side the pain of Dark Card. Without the presence of light, we would not even see this silhouette. I am thankful that there are artists and poets who can transcend the dark to share their lives by shining light.

In Dark Card, Rebecca Foust gives the reader a lesson in courage -- the courage of a mother raising a child with a disability, the courage to face the reality this forces upon her, the courage to probe the feelings deep within, and the courage to put those feelings into unforgettable words. This is the open heart of a mother, with all the pain and joy exposed. Read it with respect. It will move you.

I read Dark Card on my vacation. I reacted most deeply to Perfect Target, Sweet Heart, Begin Again - all three made me pause and just feel sick about how cruel people can be to each other and the impacts of seemingly small events on a precious life. It makes me wonder how easily we as individuals and a culture are afraid of vulnerability and the need for eliminating the weak to make ourselves feel strong rather than embracing them. These three poems are marked with tears. There were a few others that really hit me in the gut for how much the emotional content of the poem became my own: Apologies to My OB-GYN, No Longer Medusa, Unreachable Child, He Never Lies, Eighteen (he made it!), Refrigorator Mom. These poems are marked with a check to reread. Thank you for sharing yourself and your son's journey through poetry.

It has been years since I have read anything to which I connected in this way, and I am in the phase where I recommend it only to people I very much like.

I have never read a book that better describes the fullness of life and emotions and the grace of acceptance. The weaving of philosophy throughout the book provides a handle for the characters to check and compare the lives they thought they would lead and the ones they are living and how to help each other along in that journey. The many sides of friendship shine brightly. The perils and joys of love in all its complexity are drawn with Schwartz's lush brush of words. The depth and breadth of grief felt with the loss of a child will never be better defined in all it's many facets. This book is a gift to readers.

I really enjoyed this book. But I disagree with the other reviewers about the language. I thought it was good to discuss philosophy but I felt the rhetoric got in the way of the story. I lost interest in the characters for awhile and skipped over much of the dialogue. I liked the theme of the book and definatly understood the "Disturbances in the Field." I just wish the author didn't jump around from chapter to chapter. I hardly realized what had happened to change their lives so drastically until a few pages into the chapter. All in all, I'm glad I read this book but I didn't need Philosophy 101 again to enjoy it.

This book is, quite simply, a wonder to read. Lydia Rowe -- a grown woman, married to an artist and the mother of four children -- experiences one of life's deepest tragedies. But the novel is not about the tragedy; rather, it explores nothing less than how to be human.

How do the insights and guidance of ancient philosophers impact us when life temporarily stops making sense? How is romantic love different from platonic love and the love of friends ("another self"), and how do they complement each other? How do you reach a point of acceptance -- with yourself, your dearest friends, and the haphazard world? When do you need to be apart and when must you come together? And what is the role of forgiveness in often unforgiving times?

All these questions -- and more -- are explored in this masterwork. Never is a false note hit. The growth and blossoming of friendships...the trials and rewards of motherhood...the coming together and rendering apart of marital couples...all these are tackled and the characters are all rich and three-dimensional.

After reading Disturbances in the Field, I found myself easily irritated with the next couple of books I picked up (some of them prize-winning). Lynn Sharon Schwartz has an instinctive knowledge of being human, and it shines throughout. I cannot recommend highly enough.

I recommend reading this book as a pair with Kate Walbert's "Our Kind," for a rich and comprehensive look at what happened to the "Seven Sisters" (i.e., Wellesley, Smith, Vassar, Barnard) women from the 1950s and early 1960s. "Disturbances in the Field" is the kind of book that makes you run out to the bookstore or library to see what else you can find by the author--it's that good. I think other readers probably got even more out of it than I did, being unfamiliar as I was with a lot of the philosophers mentioned and the tenets of their schools of thought. But the stories that this novel tells about Lydia and all her friends from this era have plenty to offer even if you are not familiar with the philosophers. I would recommend sticking with it through the first few pages, which might seem a little daunting at first--it is definitely worth seeing through to the end.

Robin Rabbin is a contemporary mystic who has been facilitating Meditative Inquiry retreats for more than fifteen years. In Echoes Of Silence, he draws upon his considerable expertise and experience to instruct the reader in the art of meditation as a method of achieving inner peace and happiness. Rabbin explores the true nature of meditation, revealing what it is -- and is not. Rabbin employs prose poems combined with beautiful duotone images to dispel many of the myths surrounding the authentic meditative experience. Echoes Of Silence is highly original, "reader friendly", a welcome introduction for the novice, and with much to offer even those having prior experience with meditation.

Mr. Rabbin vividly describes the true nature and uncompromising power of the meditative experience in his new book. His eloquent and articulate style of illustrating the true spirit of meditation penetrates to the core of practice, revealing the bare essence of reality.

Rabbin's sutras are as timeless as the soul, providing a nourishing nectar for our hungry spirits. Packed with the wisdom of a true sage, this is a book you can read over and over since the words on its pages are ageless and will serve the soul forever. I will keep it with me always.

Robert Rabbin has achieved the near-impossible; he gives us the essence of the nondual without leaving us stuck in the mind. His aphorisms are simultaneously the map and a glimpse of the actual territory, and remind me of the discourses of the great J. Krishnamurti.

Once again, Robert Rabbin has managed to define the indefinable....to bring understanding to what seems incomprehensible for many of us. His unique and gifted style of turning words into wisdom brings clarity to the silence within us. Echoes of Silence is truly the meditation guidebook for the new Millennium.

I found the Spanish easy to understand, though his philosophy went over my head!

Aunque no estes de acuerdo con todas las ideas de Octavio Paz, las reflexiones y los analisis de esta mente birllante ayudan a entender nuestra magnifica raza. La escritura lleva al lector al pasado y al presente, para poder entender la condicion de Mexico y su gente. Todos los Mexicanos deberian de sentarse a devorar este libro que clarificara las costumbres de nuestra gente y nos ayuda a entender que tiene que cambiar en nuestra politica para tener un pais mas prospero.

Paz, el ganador del Premio Nobel de 1990, escribo tantos libros destacados-Sor Juana, El arco y la lira, pero este representa el cumbre de su poder artistico. El escribe sobre el hombre mexicano en todas sus formas y tribulaciones. El libro es, al mismo tiempo, un ensayo(o mejor, un libro de ensayos), un analisis, una historia, y, sobre todo, una pregunta-en que consiste este hombre cuyo origen forma parte de la conquista de America, un proceso ya en proceso.

Empieza la obra discutiendo "el pachuco"-una figura del medio siglo XX que representaba la ambiguedad y la frenesi del hispano en los estados unidos durante ese periodo. Despues de esta discusion, continua explicando la cultura hispana desde la epoca precolumbina hasta la revolucion mexicana. Termina la historia con este evento, y la unica cosa que le hace falta a la obra es un analisis de la historia contemporanea.

Este seria el primer libro que le recomienda sobre Mexico al nuevo estudiante.

Octavio Paz, el escritor que haya definido nuestra vida como "olvidado asombro de estar vivos", nos habla de sus ensayos escritos más que hace cincuenta años. Su "La Dialéctica de la Soledad", uno de sus ensayos más destacados, presente sus puntos de vista sobre la soledad no solamente mexicana, sino también la de hombre presente mismo. Paz trata varios temas ensayísticos con la cristalina claridad y persigue un proyecto casi filosófico: muestra la alma mexicana con sus raíces aztecas, su plaza en la vida antigua y contemporánea y, finalmente, su visión de "soñar con los ojos cerrados". Justamente por este ensayo mismo atrevo a recomendar todo el libro tratando de la soledad, cuya presencia en nuestra vida diaria es tan obvia. Además, un interesado en la obra de Octavio Paz debería leer su discurso que había pronunciado en el año 1990 con el motivo de agradecer el galardonar de Premio Nobel. Leyendo Paz, uno descubre que Paz ya contestó muchas de nuestras cuestiónes inquietantes ...

Octavio Paz wrote the definitive sociological book that deciphered the Mexican character. He correctly diagnosed that, in fact, the Mexican was stuck in a labyrinth and condemned to find a way out, and in many respects is still trying to find that way out. He understood that he would receive harsh criticism and he did. However, he stayed true to his calling as a man of letters and delivered a book that must indeed be read by anyone wanting to understand the make-up of the Mexican or the serious scholar searching for understanding in the field of Mexican history. I strongly and without reservation recommend this book, it will change your outlook on this important country and most importantly on the inhabitants and descendants of it forever.

I was in the bookstore yesterday and saw this book reprinted with new cover---a sign that it's been doing great in the market! that says a lot about it's content. I got this book over two years ago; from time to time I took it out from the shelf and it always entertains and brings great romantic feelings! I really hope the editor could do more of this kind of book! I have compared this book with other books of love poems---the unique collection of poems from all around the world, modern and ancient, make this book so much more special. The poems seem to use very effective language and words and put together the most sensual pictures with very little words. Very entertaining and enjoyable! BUY THIS BOOK AND CITE ONE A DAY TO YOUR LOVER LIKE I DO! DO IIIIIITTTTTTT!!!!!!!

186 pages filled with amazing poetry. This book connected.... to both thought, and pleasure.

Poems from Walt Whitman, Rumi, Adrienne Rich, Shakespeare, William Blake and Pablo Neruda are just some of the poets listed in this anthology. Out of my 25+ poetry books, it is the one I reach for first if I am looking for something romantic or erotic. Included is a little notation about each poet listed. It's a wonderful little paperback that has gotten re-read often at my house.

I purchased this book as a bon voyage gift for my new love who had to leave the country for a few months during the throes of our blossoming romance, and it has done a tremendous job of helping keep the home fires blazin'! He says it's the best poetry book he's ever read. The poems perfectly capture all aspects of the longing, lust and yearning of lovers throughout the ages. If you're looking for the perfect romantic Valentine's gift for your partner, this is definitely it. A must-read for die-hard romantics everywhere.

Erotic love is one of the highest forms of contemplation. ~Kenneth Rexroth

The Erotic Spirit is a collection of beautiful poems mingling together in a land of sensual nirvana. The minute you enter the pages of this stunning anthology, you will find you have entered a sacred sanctuary of desire. You may find yourself startled by the mirroring of emotions. When Sappho (6th century BCE) wrote: "Eros seizes and shakes my very soul like the wind on the mountain shaking ancient oaks," did she imagine women in the future knowing exactly what she was talking about?

Sam Hamill has included moments of beauty to blur the distinction between spirituality and sensuality. The two become one in a swirling of seductive soul expressions.

When I think of you,
fireflies in the marsh rise
like the soul's jewels,
lost to eternal longing,
abandoning my body

~Izumi Shikibu (970-1030)

Rarely have I read a "Preface" so profound in content and so enlightening in regards to poetry. The "Notes on the Poets" section is also essential to your enjoyment and I was so pleased Sam Hamill included information on each poet. Suddenly a poem becomes all the more significant when you read about Sappho jumping from a cliff because her love was not returned.

Sam Hamill is a poet and the author of over thirty books of poetry, translations and essays. He shows a deep understanding of erotic love and has included poems of longing, passion, compassion, sexual love, adoration, devotion and ecstasy.

There are poems from Egypt, Greece, China, Japan, Turkey, India, America, England, Thailand, Mexico, Spain, France, Lebanon, Pakistan, Estonia and Costa Rica.

Featured Poets: Sappho, Anakreon, Asklepiados, Praxilla, Rufinus, Marcus Argentarius, Catullus, Philodemos, Ovid, Petronius Arbiter, Tzu Yeh, Agathias Scholoasticus, Cometas Chartularius, Paulus Silentiarius, Li Po, Otomo No Yakamochi, Yuan Chen, Li Ho, Ariwara No Narihira, Li Hsun, Ono No Komachi, Izumi Shikibu, Liu Yung, Samuel Ha-Nagid, Ou-Yang Hsiu, Mahadeviyakka, Jelaluddin Rumi, Francesco Petrarch, Ikkyu Sojun, Kabir, Vidyapati, Mirabai, William Shakespeare, Bihari, Robert Herrick, Anne Bradstreet, Se Praj, Andrew Marvell, John Dryden, Jonathan Swift, William Blake, John Keats, Walt Whitman, Charles Baudelaire, Emily Dickinson, Paul Laurence Dunbar, Antonnio Machado, Yosano Akiko, Anna Akhmatova, Pablo Neruda, Kenneth Rexroth, Hayden Carruth, Denise Levertov, Carolyn Kizer, Robert Creeley, Adrienne Rich, Roberto Sosa, Robert Kelly, Lucille Clifton, Jaan Kaplinski, Sam Hamill, Gioconda Belli, Olga Broumas, Maurya Simon and Dorianne Laux.

Within these pages there are poems by an Indian Princess who became a saint, poems by one of the most influential poets in history and even poems from a woman who is considered to be the first poet in America.

Poems to Adore:

Plum Blossoms - A poem describing longing while lovers are apart. The clouds become love notes as a poet drifts in an orchid boat.

Yuan Chen's Remembering - Passion, daydreams and mountains keeping lovers apart.

Fires Run Through My Body - An anonymous Kwakiutl poem describing love as pain. There is a similar theme in Yuan Chen's Remembering where pain is embraced.

The Erotic Spirit will make you breathless! Some of these poems stir up such deep emotions it is as if the poems burst from the pen in order to experience a union with the page on which they were being written.

100 Stars!

~The Rebecca Review

This book is beautifully illustrated with classic nursery rhymes from your childhood. It brings back memories for me.

Most of the included nursery rhymes are ones you will remember and enjoy sharing with your children. Don't get all hung up on what a violent world we live in and think that these are bad morals to teach your children, as one other reviewer of nursery rhyme books went into a diatribe about. The sooner your children realize that everyone is not equal and everyone is not a winner, the better off they will be in adulthood. The P.C. movement in the USA is out of control -- there really are winners and losers in life -- so, motivate your children to be winners through hard work, skill and talent! Don't teach them to expect a trophy and pat-on-the-back telling them how wonderful they are when the reality is something quite different. It's time to get back to basics in this country because the coddling of our children over the past 20 years certainly hasn't produced good results (look around and stop blaming nursery rhymes and video games for YOUR POOR PARENTING).

The morals in this book won't hurt anyone and they certainly didn't turn me into a serial killer. So, enjoy this beautiful book with your children -- I know I am!

This book is the perfect gift for a baby especially if they have an
older sibling that can read to them. Everyone should have the chance
to enjoy the beautiful pictures and rhymes
while holding a precious baby.

This is one of the best illustrated books for children that I have seen in years, I bought two copies and gave them to my daughters who are about to be new mothers. The illustrations are by far the best I've come across

Nursery ryhmes are so important to learn as a child. As an adult, I know most of them and wanted to teach them to my children. I researched the perfect book that included all the rhymes I remembered. This book was it!! It had all the classic nursery ryhmes I remembered and more! And you will love the illustrations...beautiful! My son (age 4) remembers each picture and will talk about it. You will find so much detail in each illustration that will add to the nursery ryhme even more. I highly recommend this book!

This is truly the most incredible Mother Goose book that I have ever seen an I'm a children's librarian!!!!