Poetry Books

Mr. Aiken is a prolific writer and pours his soul out lyrically. The title speaks for itself and will take you on an emotional rollercoaster. Enjoy his emphatic expressions of love, inspiration, and revolution. You won't be disappointed.

It was enjoying to read, even though I'm not into poetry and inspirational books but I did enjoy it for the most part. Especially You and Me, I really liked that, it hit home.

I thought that Mr. Aiken's poetry is phenomenal, thought-provoking, and inspirational. I especially liked the poem
"Domestic Violence," which re-opened my eyes to the injustices that face my people.

I'm hardly an authoritative critic of poetry. In fact, I don't really know much about poetry at this point. The only poet I know something about is Emily Dickinson, and Vaughh T. Aiken's "My Soul is not For Sale" is about as far from Emily Dickinson's style as one can get. So, I don't know how much use my thoughts will be on this book, but I'll share what I can.

What I sense from this book is a man searching, and in many instances finding, his true identity. What is also very evident is Mr. Aiken's identification with his people and pride in his own culture. I found this a breath of fresh air, and a reminder of a world I once lived among. I lived in a mostly African American neighborhood during my teen years; and the prose in these poems, the cultural signifiers, really take me back and make me long for what was one of the happiest eras of my life. I really miss the African American community.

My Soul is not For Sale is filled with poems of love and inspiration. One of my favorite poems in this book is "Domestic Violence." It metaphorically displays how a certain group of people have been constantly beaten down and disenfranchised by its own country, namely The USA. Vaughn T. Aiken has written thought provoking poems and they're an excellent read for college students or anybody who wants to be inspired.

`Night Mother, a 1983 Pulitzer Prize winning play deserves just that! This one act play with simply two characters was unlike something I have read. The play draws on emotional dialogue, an unpleasant subject of suicide and the challenge to convince one not to do it. What is prize winning about the dramatic story is the realistic conversational tones and often painful sounds. It is the exchange of normal everyday dialogue, intermixed with riveting rationalization, pleading, bargaining, and coming to terms with life as it shall be. For the theatrical onstage drama, a clock is visible to the audience that indicates the action takes place in one evening and with no intermission. Time is of the essence.

The drama takes place in the early 80's in a small home, and one main character is Jessie, a 40ish woman with epilepsy, was deserted by her husband, and her son is a teenage criminal whose whereabouts are unknown. The only other character is her mother, whom Jessie lives with and Jessie, somewhat, does caregiving.

In the midst of Jessie carefully and strategically planning her suicide, she is nonchalantly taking care of last minute obligations for her mother, like doing mother's nails. Included in the planning, is a list of instructions so mother can locate everything needed after Jessie's suicide takes place. As mother tries to reason and rationalize and beg, Jessie conducts herself normally, making the preparations and letting nothing interfere. Here, we learn about Jessie, her dead father, why she was deserted, her son, and much more. Then the author transfers the dialogue with brilliancy..... This is wonderful, sad, emotional and powerful.

Movie version with superb acting!
See the movie version with Sissy Spacek and Anne Bancroft. It is rare that I see a version that equals the book! This is powerful. 'night, Mother.

Another wonderful play about death and dying is by Michael
Cristofer, a Pulitzer Prize Shadow Box: A Drama in Two Acts and the film version directed by Paul Newman The Shadow Box. It examines the 5stages of grieving one goes through as they are dying. These stages are also displayed by the living members, the loved ones. Rizzo

I thoroughly enjoyed this play. I watched the film awhile back, and since I wanted to change choose different films for my Film Appreciation class, I decided to review the play before adding 'Night, Mother to my list. What a powerful play. It sheds light on a very difficult subject. Jesse, the main character, makes the decision to "get off the bus early" after careful thought. She shows that some people contemplate this critical experience probably more carefully than buying a house or a car. Her decision is hardly spontaneous or emotional, nothing that I imagined at all. The power of the read helped me to decide to buy the video later on. I also ended up buying a collection of Marsha Norman's other plays, hoping that I will duplicate the insight gained by reading this play.

Marsha Norman's 1983 Pulitizer Prize-winning 'NIGHT, MOTHER is frequently described as a play "about suicide." Although the play does indeed deal with suicide, this is actually a shallow designation; it is about a lot of things, but most particularly control: who has it, who wants it, and the extent a person will go to obtain it.

The play involves two characters: Thelma, an elderly woman, and Jessie, her middle-aged daughter. They have lived together in an isolated house on a rural road for a number of years. Thelma describes herself as "a plain country woman;" she enjoys life in a fundamental way, not expecting more than she already knows, watching television, knitting, nibbling at sweets, and enjoying regular visits from her son and his family. Jessie, who suffers from epilepsy and is divorced, has become something of a recluse, and her life consists largely of managing her mother's home and thinking on the past. One evening, as the play begins, Jessie informs Thelma that she has decided to kill herself right after she gives Thelma her weekly manicure.

Thelma does not take Jessie seriously at first; clearly there have been too many scenes between the two for Jessie's statement to have any real meaning for her. But Jessie is serious indeed, and over the course of an hour and a half the play evolves into a battle of wits, Jessie determined to kill herself, Thelma equally determined to prevent her from it. In the process, we learn quite a bit about the family and their lives and the various emotional and factual secrets the women have hidden from each other over the years.

The play is brilliantly constructed, performed in "real time" without any scene changes or intermission; the characters--and the equally vivid people they discuss but whom we never see--are equally well rendered. There are moments are laughter, even more moments of insight, but the play is progressively intense, progressively dark, with all the power of a noose that slowly tightens around your neck. One of the most fearsome bits of theatre of the past thirty years or so, easily the equal of such legendary works as Albee's WHO'S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF? Recommended.

GFT, Amazon Reviewer

This is one of my favorite plays of all time. it's a great discussion on the issue of suicide. There's one line Ive always remebered: When the daughter is trying to justify the idea that she wants to off herslef, and she uses an illustration of someone riding the bus and riding the bus, and they could just stay on and ride it around the block another round, but why bother. It's really well written, and how the mother and dauther get along is interesting.

"'night, Mother" is a tour de force conversation between a mother, Thelma, and her daughter, Jessie, who has just told her that she is going to commit suicide at the end of the night. The play is a taut high-wire act that leaves you spellbound as Thelma tries to convince her daughter not to go through with it and Jessie sternly insists. Thelma and Jessie are extremely dimensional, deep characters with an achingly believable relationship. Through the course of their conversation it becomes apparent that there is a yawning chasm between them despite their seeming closeness, and while Thelma thinks that the two can put it right Jessie doesn't believe it -- or want to try. The fierce, emotional back-and-forth between Mother and daughter keeps you on the edge of your seat. The dialogue is very natural and believable, and the playwright, Marsha Norman, displays an extraordinary acuity for what her characters are feeling and have gone through to reach this point. Norman has crafted a devastating portrait of two women that leaves an enormous impact on the reader. I only finished it two hours ago, but I seriously doubt that "night, Mother" will be leaving my thoughts any time soon. Highly recommended -- but keep the Kleenex on hand, just in case.

This is a very fine book for couples married a long time and whose age is in the "senior" category.

I always try to keep an extra of this book on the shelf for when an anniversary comes around for special people. I received this book years ago and just love it. Everyone I have given this book to just loves the verse and the beautiful graphics. I am so happy I can always go to Amazon.com when I need more copies.

great book for a older anniversary gift especially 50th anniversary. hard cover nice pictures and verses. my amazon coppy had a small tear on corner of the corner of the jacket of the book which was not seen until I opened it but jacket gives a nice presentation. Do to amazon mail packaging.

Whew! What wonderful, choice words Warren Hanson uses to describe love--from first love to "older love," whether he means being in love again when you are older, or the love between people who have been together for years upon years.

His subtle rhyme describes love, especially older love, using images of wine, hands, old shoes, and so much more.

My favorite page says: "Yes, our faces show the traces of the years that have gone by, But it's hard to see the wrinkles with a twinkle in your eye." His "aging together" is so true; just ask me after almost 38 years of marriage (to the same guy!)

The older love concept is so beautifully illustrated--it's simply great knowing that everyone who has a long love will find themselves in this book.

Hanson is both the author and illustrator--as he did on his amazing The Next Place. He is well known for his illustrations on now-famous The Christmas Cup of Tea.

Armchair Interviews says: Gift someone special any day, or on their special day because any day is a good time to celebrate love, whether new or older love.

Though Older Love is written and presented in the style of a picturebook, with gentle two-color illustrations and only a verse or two on each page, Older Love is not meant specifically for children or beginning readers, but rather for readers of all ages, as it celebrates the joy of a golden years relationship. The text is a poem about bonds that transcends age, and the illustrations have a soft and inviting quality to them. An excellent and heartwarming giftbook. "Older love is hands and hearts and souls as they unite / every morning, every evening, / every day and every night. / Like the sun and moon and stars that light the heavens up above, / these two lives will shine together, / with the glow of older love."

FABULOUS! I loved this book of poems written by ten different women. They make it easy for you to feel the joy, desire, pain and humor they've experienced. It connected with my soul.

This cozy book by 10 diverse and talented ladies is a comfortable, intimate read. It provokes thoughts, makes you smile, makes you feel and think about many things. i especially liked Sandy Fackler's 'Green Beads', which evokes poignant childhood memories that many must share.

Anyone over thirty has to relate to P. Diane Truswell's, "Competition Circa 1957," the things women have done to recognize themselves or others. The "how" is different now but the "why" is still the same. "The Dance," by Mary L. Kling speaks for all of us less than gifted wanna-be dancers, ball players, singers, etc. and the people or things that stand in our way. Humor, sorrow, quick and elongated; all the poems in ON WINGS OF WORDS merit one read, or two, or three......

What a wonderful experience!! Loved reading it! These women have truly done a marvelous job of writing what is in women's hearts. They are wonderful. I hope and pray there will be more. Thank you!

Although the book was small, it did pack quite a punch. These ladies seem to write directly from the heart. Many of the passages left you wanting to know more but before long you were relating the topics to things that have happened in your own life. I would recommend the book to all and would hope that there will be more books to follow.

My wife is a text book writer and has found this gift text to be quite valuable. Recommended

Those are the bitter pills of civilization. Like other bitter pills, they have great healing power. As a matter of fact, if the World took more notice of those pearls of wisdom, produced by outstanding minds, from Heraclitus to the Huxleys, policies might be less absurd and mass actions less disastrous than they actually are.

The book is dark verging on sardonic, reflecting the dark, sardonic nature of the best epigrams of our age. I was inspired to respond in the margins to a number of them, and I can't think of a better response to epigrams in general, than for them to get under your prickly skin to the extent that you might write your own ironic counterstatements. Bloodshed begets bloodshed, and so we might say (ironically) that this sort of bitterness begets bitterness. But it may very well be the most brilliant bitterness you've known.

Some of my favorite quotes with my responses--representative in the extreme:

"Where they burn books they will also in the end burn human bodies"--Heine, <>, 1823

"Where they burn human beings, they will also, in the end, burn the wrong book"--Eucaleh Terrapin

"A secret may sometimes be best kept by keeping the secret of its being a secret"--Sir Henry Taylor, <>, 1823

"Thus the wisest proverb is common sense"--Eucaleh Terrapin

"Freedom produces jokes, and jokes produce freedom"--Jean Paul Richter, Introduction to Aesthetics, 1823

"But to be witty is to be serious about other comedians"--Eucaleh Terrapin

John Gross has compliled an excellent collection of the best aphorisms into a nicely accessible framework. The book is arranged by chapters reflecting everything from "Nature" to "The Afterlife." This arrangement works well as a path to pursue the great thoughts that philosophers, psychologists, and aphorists have written about the areas that most commonly provoke interest. The book has an outstanding index and an insightful introduction from Gross in which he expresses his regret about not having beem able to obtain permission to include the observations of Wittgenstein. As Vauvenargues wrote in 1746, "Men's maxims reveal their characters," and one of the great values in this collection is that it juxtaposes what others have said by subject area, juxtaposing what the famous thinkers here included remarked on the same subjects. The cover of this volume displays an explosive rocket, appropriately enough. The anti-religious elements are especially entertaining, as it is always fun to see the response to the groveling aspects of Christian orthodoxy. Highly recommended.

Like most collections of aphorisms this one is rich in helpful thoughts. These thoughts inspire and give birth to new thoughts. 1) Aphorisms of others ideally inspire aphorisms of our own.
2) Aphorisms help make our minds more interesting.
3) It is senseless to read too many aphorisms at once
4) A little here a little there, aphoristic pleasure everywhere.
5) A good aphorism is one you want to tell someone else.

This flowing book of poetry is so enjoyable that you might want to read it in one sitting. The beginning has the beautiful language of pomegrantes, figs, and nature. At "Bach's Concerto No. 1 in C Minor" (210) the true feeling that this is great poetry dawned on me. And the poetic craft became better, too, through "The Bees" (217), "Straw-Blond" (243), and "Things I Didn't Know I Loved" (261). These poems progress through decades of his life and reach their peak in his maturity.

I was introduced to Hikmet through his poem, "Things I didn't know I loved". On the strength of this poem, I picked up this collection. I was tremendously suprised to find that there are many, many more poems that beautifully and powerfully express Hikmet's relishment of life, of love and the constant frustration he experienced as an exile.

His politics are a constant thread throughout many of his poems, as is his optimism in the future - in spite of being imprisioned and separated from his wife, his son and eventually his country. It is his passion for living, however, that struck me most powerfully. "Because of You", "On the Matter of Romeo and Juliet" and "This Journey" are among my favorites (and are among my favorites of ANY poet.)

If you own only two books of poetry, this should be one of them. (The other, in my opinion, should be anything by Rilke, but that is my taste.) Hikmet's words are exquisite and sublime. Highly recommended.

It's hard to express in words just how wonderful and beautiful Hikmet's poetry is - intimate, honest, uncompromising, gently humorous, filled with longing and hope and refusing to let despair triumph in spite of outward circumstances. In other words, profoundly human.

I don't think he'd mind if I quoted his poem "Hello":

HELLO

Nazim, what happiness
that, open and confident, you can say "Hello"
from the bottom of your heart!

The year is 1940.
The month, July.
The day is the first Thursday of the month.
The hour: 9.

Date your letters in detail this way.
We live in such a world
that the month, day, and hour
speak volumes.

Hello, everybody.

To say a big
fat "Hello"
and then, without finishing my sentence,
to look at you with a smile
- sly and gleeful -
and wink. . .

We're such perfect friends
that we understand each other
without words or writing. . .

Hello, everybody,
hello to all of you. . .


(translated from the Turkish by Randy Blasing & Mutlu Konuk; published by Persea books)

Thank you, translators, for bringing this wonderful poet to English readers. From the bottom of my heart - thank you and hello!

Does not matter how good the translation is, it is not comparable to the original work. Nazim Hikmet is world's one of the great poets, but what makes him special really is the way he uses Turkish.

A poet of great humanity, great compasion, a believer in the human race in spite of having been in jail from many years, as well as been exiled by the Turkish leaders. refreshing and immediate, poetry for everyone, simple and strong.

This is an amazing first hand account of the horrors of the Holocaust. Very candidly, Magda shares about what happened to her, her family and loved ones, as the unbelievable events of the world unfolded in the early 1940's. As a survivor of the tragedy, she proclaims her faith in God, and the hope of being reunited with her family and friends as the unseen strengths that kept her alive, and brought her through. She has made it her purpose and calling in life to make others aware of the reality of what happened, and she does a great job issuing a warning of the capabilities of what humans can do if evil is allowed to reign in their hearts.

My praise for this book! A must read!

Survival

This is not just another Holocaust book. Magda's story is a slap in the face to the "historians" and racists who deny that the Holocaust ever took place. But this book is so much more than a historical document; it is the story about one woman's courageous life, and a life that has been lived to the full.

I had the pleasure of hearing Magda share her story at our Messianic Congregation. Magda is willing to share her story with both Christians and Messianic Jews because she loves God and loves people. She is a bundle of energy, and if you ever get the chance to see her in person, I would highly recommend that you do so.

The book seems to fly by as we see the life of Magda transition from a happy, athletic child to a left-for-dead survivor, to her development into vibrant adulthood. The part where she is re-united with her mother is priceless; Magda's mother saved a change of clothes and some chocolates in case her daughter would ever return, and Baruch HaShem she did. Magda is also a poet, and she has many poems mixed in; one that stuck me in particular was one she recited when she thought she would die near the camps. The poem is a chilling reminder of the powerful emotions one would feel at that time when normal words cannot adequately explain our emotions.

What I really loved about her work, oral and written, is that she has a wonderful balance of remembrance and hope. She does not forget or ignore the past, but neither does she let it impede her. We remember the horror, but we also get to hear about how after the war she went to medical college, found the love of her life (recently celebrating 60 years of marriage), and became a poet and an inspirational speaker.

This book is important for both Jews and Christians to read. Both will walk away blessed. But also to those who feel that there is no hope in the world, this is a great example to demonstrate the opposite. Don't miss an opportunity to see what one woman did who was described as "saved by God." It will warm your heart.

I've known Magda Herzberger almost 30 years and during that time I saw in her compassion, a love of life, an intellect and a strong heroic desire to be a voice and tell what happened to 6 million Jews in Hitler's death camps of Auschwitz, Bremen and Bergen-Belsen. She can be that voice because she was there from 1944 to 1945.

"Survival" begins with 18 year old Magda writing about her loving family, mother, father and aunts and uncles. It is memories of these peaceful and happy days that will help Magda in the death camps where horror, humiliation and cruelty reign.

To write this book Magda had to summon all the horrors she endured in the camps back into her conscious mind and relive them. While writing the book, she endured many nightmares as she summoned the grisly past to the present. To continue on writing this autobiography is a tribute to her courage.

She writes she was shipped with thousands of other Jews jammed into cattle cars that would take them to the death camp of Auschwitz-Birkenau. In her book, she takes us through a week by week account of the "work" assigned to her in the camp. Death was next to her every moment. The daily living was so abhorrent that many of the women found themselves in deep depression and committed suicide. Magda's strong belief in the Almighty kept her from doing the same. The reader will see how Magda uses many different positive thinking techniques to keep her sanity.

The reader will find a book that gives living testament to what it was like in the camps of Auschwitz-Birkenau, the streets of bombed Bremen and finally, the trip to the camp of starvation in Bergen Belsen.

This book begins with a wholesome, loving teenager who is snatched along with her family and other Jews to arrive at a death camps and end a year later with an emaciated woman with her arms wrapped around a birch tree coming to terms with death knowing it is not far away.

This is not to be her end. She does find happiness.

I think this book should be in every library, school, and book store.

This is a must read for Jews and non Jews alike. For Jews, to reinforce the motto "NEVER AGAIN" and for all non Jews so that they may understand. It took only a few years of indoctrination by the Nazis for a people to learn to hate a culture and religion so intensely. They were able to justify the denegration, torture and murder of millions of Jews Gypseys and others. One may wonder how much worse it may become for us, Jews and non Jews alike, in today's world where children are studying the same hateful rhetoric in madrasses (sp)...but for years and years. Enough hate and vitriol so that they are willing to give up their lives in order to murder innnocent people. I had to put this book down periodically because it so clearly illustrated "man's inhumanity to man". I am personally acquainted with Magda. She is wonderful, incredibly resiliant human being. There is a glow in her face and demeanor. Her father's message of "FAITH, LOVE & HOPE...foregiveness and tolerance...no mater what happens" is almost impossible to imagine under those circumstances...but if Magda can do it...maybe...we all can.

"Survival" is chilling! The contents give grizly details of three Nazi prison camps.But Magda Herzberger's superb ability to pen her thoughts takes the reader throuh her journey of awe and wonderment that led to her hell-hole of nearly unsurvivable torture.And then she brings us back to the real world.
When I read about Magda's background [ off a well connected family with above average attitudes to make a positive difference in their community],I mentally engaged in that same strength.The when I read how she was shoved into the brink of near insanity,I felt her deep dark pain,and at the same time,I appreciated her tender-hearted goodness throughout the book.I applaud the author's courage to spill her gut-wrenching experiences onto the printed page and show the reader how she maintained her God-loving dignity.
Magda does not give a world-involved view of the war;she writes her daily account from the frame of a teenager.She places the reader within her,so we experience the pain of her flesh and the light of her soul.Her prose throughout the book captures additional heart-felt thoughts that give support to her storyline.
I recommend his book for teenagers as well as adults.We can learn from Magda Herzberger;she doesn't live in a prison of unforgiveness;instead,she looks for life and lives it.I suggest we all take a thankful attitude for the air we breathe.

"A Trilogy of Poetry, Prose and Thoughts" is a lovely poetry book by three very talented poets, a family of poets. Each Poet has their own section and writes from their heart and soul. I felt wisdom, spiritual value, messages of hope and love within this collection. I was spellbound to read how they all could relate so wonderfully to each other. They all use the accent of imagery, taste, and touch within this collection.

I found the book very relaxing to my senses as my mind would wander to fully realize the potential of the words written on each page, and the story it would tell. I felt the love of Joseph, the Father, Sheila, the Wife and Mother and Jonathan their very talented Son. All of these very talented Authors wrote with great clarity and precision in the content they presented within this collection.

The entire collection was fabulous but I especially enjoyed "Walk on By Girl", "The Electric Slide, "Proud was He", "Autumn Leaves", "My Dad", Soccer Not Fowl", "The Indian Person, "Your Smile my Son", "Migration", and `Don't Leave me Behind". Each Poet writes well and compliments the other two. I could feel all the love shared within this family. Their expression was a delight to me and brought my senses to full relaxation.

I would highly recommend this book for anyone's poetry collection. It is the second book that I have read that they wrote and both books are a treasure that I behold. Kudos to all of you for the fantastic writing! Christina R Jussaume--Author/Poetess--------- Awesome enlightening food for the soul!

Hearty and wholesome.A delightful meal for Mind Body and Soul.An inspiration to us all.I simply could not put this book down.The wonderful lyrics and exciting prose in this book entice the reader to sing and dance to the rythm of love and laughter, while savoring the splendor of authentic foods.A great work of Art.A family's vision of God's wonderful Creation.[[ASIN:0553375423 Everyday Miracles: The Inner Art of Manifestation.)

If you're looking for poetry and prose that will bring back childhood memories and give you that warm feeling of family, this is the book for you. I have seen the Trilogy team performance many times and leave with with a smile on my face and warm sensation in my heart. I can't wait for the next book!

"A Trilogy of Poetry, Prose, and Thoughts" by Joseph, Sheila and Jonathan is a delightful work. It is filled with lots of imagery and figurative language. It is a delight to visualize and taste Joseph Spence's Jamaican foods, and taste Sheila's southern cuisine. The young Jonathan Spence is a rising literary star; his poetry and prose are excellently written. The Trilogy Team gives a vivid picture of their lives. It is a masterpiece of 21st Century poetry ; it awakens the five senses. Inspirational!
They have made a significant contribution to the poetic genre.

this is great for family, both for the young and the old.lot of good laugh for the soul and fun to read.
a great job from the trio.
the book has a lot of sunshine from the islands,that i am famaliar with.
this is a must read!

An excellent grouping of poems. They each reflect real life circumstances in today's busy world. I am pleased to be an integral part of my grandchildren's lives. As such, this book is quite relevant to circumstances that they could face as they grow up and out into a more independent world. Thanks Vickie for having the heart to tell it like it is. Your sensitivity and talent certainly shines through your work. You help us face and address so many of the current social ills!

Vickie,I will start off by saying your words,language and poetry are simply clear,down to earth and truly has a message.The only reason that I gave you 5 STARS is because there was no 10 on the board! My review may be quite different from your other wnderful reviews and that is because the reason that I said Divinely Awesome is because I do not understand God's Ways or Timing.I now know that He says that all things work together for His Good and purpose.I pray that every child,teenager,parent and also anyone that would like to have hope and press on and accomplish their purpose,would get your book and read it often.I really wish that I had mentors or someone when I was a hurting and confused child and teenager,to guide and direct me.I became a very angry and violent young woman that every poem in your short but very powerful book described with such clarity and humor.My prayer is that many more doors are open for you to help young people,which are our future to know that they will submit to someone for the rest of their lives,that they must develope character and that their gifts can take them but their character must KEEP them.They also will always have choices,there will always be consequences,they can continue to play the BLAME GAME and that they can choose to be BITTER OR BETTER BUT THEY CAN'T BE BOTH.Your words in each poem touched my soul and gave me hope in a way that you will never know on this side.I was the destructive child that grew up in a very violent home;chose all the negatives that lead to many addictions.I am now 52 yrs old,and the author of 'All Cracked Up" and at this stage i began to feel like giving up on my purpose to continue my triology of my books to help the youth,battered men and women,unhealthy relationship addicts,sex addicts,rageaholics,sucidal tendencies and eventually crack addicts.Why? because I became all of the above and more; I didn't have someone like you who cared enough to talk,write or show me the WAY and some how THE DIVINELY AWESOME GOD THAT CREATED ME and knew me before I was in my mother's womb;through all the rain,storms,fire ,trials and tragedies, He directed and kept me to tell my story from experiences to help someone.Now with all the mentors He has provided for me I am proud He added Vickie as a road model and mentor in this 52 year old woman's life.When the road gets hard as it has, I can read "The Trouble I See" and know to hold on,some more Help is on the way.Keep up the Awesome call and purpose on your life Vickie Lynn Wright Wilson!!! Again thank you with all my heart!

I really enjoyed this book and feel it can make an impact on the yougth of today. It is easy to read and in a language they can understand. The book projects prospectives of parents/adults and those of teenagers. The poems demonstrate deep feelings of concern, desires for sucess, christian principles, and provide situations of caution. The book should be promoted for parents and their children. The author has found a tool to make an impact on our society!.

A wonderful book of poetry!!! Ms. Wilson's concern for the well being of all children and her experience as a parent and teacher shine through in each poem. Congratulations on your debut. I look forward to reading your next piece of work.

Reminds us that it is still possible, at a time when irony and
cynicism are so much the fashion, to pay tribute to our greatest
asset 'our young teens', in teaching them to recognize 'failings
and failures', while being properly appreciative of virtues and
victories. If you need to read a single book to help save our
teens, 'THE TROUBLE I SEE' is it.

I stumbled across this book, and immediately bought it, along with several copies for my friends as well. Taking it to a nearby coffee shop, I laughed so hard other patrons were staring, and somebody actually came up and asked me what was so funny. They seemed to think I was crazy for deliberately buying a book of bad poetry. Finally, I began laughing so hard I was crying, and had to leave to coffee shop to save some sense of dignity! With such gems as "Ode to a Ditch," and "Elegy for a Dissected Puppy," this book proves more interesting and entertaining than I expected, and is also a testament to the indomitable human spirit, which warbles the strangest of verses.

Great poets have their weak moments, but they tend to produce only the occasional bad line - say, for example, when William Wordsworth, one of England's greatest poets, wrote the unintentionally bawdy "Give me your tool, to him I said."

Very bad poets, however, "are perpetrators of a unique and fascinating kind of writing. Unlike the plainly bad or the merely mediocre, very bad poetry is powerful stuff. Like great literature, it moves us emotionally, but, of course, it often does so in ways the writer never intended: usually we laugh."

This book is dedicated to those writers, mostly from the 19th century, who excelled at very bad poetry with astonishing consistency. Those who were blessed, if that is the word, for their entire career with "a wooden ear for words, a penchant for sinking into a mire of sentimentality, a bullheaded inclination to stuff too many syllables or words into a line or a phrase, and an enviable confidence" that allowed them to write despite absolute appalling incompetence.

Here we find the awful metaphor ("the dew on my heart is undried and unshaken") and the tortured rhyme ("Gooing babies, helpless pygmies,/ Who shall solve your Fate's enigmas?") next to one of the most unappetizing titles for a love poem ever ("I Saw Her in Cabbage Time").

Some of the most hilarious effects are created by the attempt to dramatize the pedestrian, as in the "Ode on the Mammoth Cheese", aptly subtitled "Weighing over 7,000 pounds":

We have seen thee, queen of cheese,
Lying quietly at your ease,
Gently fanned by evening breeze,
Thy fair form no flies dare seize. (there are five more delicious stanzas)

Not quite as riotously funny, but interesting as a phenomenon of the 19th century, is the preoccupation of very bad poets with death. It produced tasteless marvels of what the editors labeled "tabloid verse" like:

Oh, Heaven! It was a frightful and pitiful sight to see
Seven bodies charred of the Jarvis family;
And Mrs. Jarvis was found with her child, and both carbonized,
And as the searchers gazed thereon they were surprised.

Another favorite of very bad poets is the use of bizarre words in blissful ignorance of their meaning or the common readers' associations. One of the most talented in this respect was one Amanda McKittrick Ros, "a writer with a gift for (as she puts it) 'disturbing the bowels.'" To her we owe the following lines written on the occasion of her visit of Westminster Abbey:

Holy Moses! Have a look!
Flesh decayed in every nook!
Some rare bits of brain lie here
Mortal loads of beef and beer
Some of whom are turned to dust, [only some?]
Every one bids lost to lust.

The editors' favorite worst poem ever written in the English language bears the title "A Tragedy" - which, indeed, it is. But I don't want to spoil the fun by quoting it here. My own favorite is an excerpt from "A Pindaresque on the Grunting of a Hog." Nothing describes the voice of a very bad poet better than the sounds this animal makes:

Harmonious Hog draw near!
No bloody Butchers here,
Thou need'st not fear.
Harmonious Hog draw near, and from thy beauteous Snowt,
Whilst we attend with Ear
Like thine prik't up devout,
To taste thy sugry Voice, which hear, and there,
With wanton Curls, Vibrates around the Circling Air,
Harmonious Hog! Warble some Anthem out!

Pindar, by the way, was the most famous lyric poet of ancient Greece. He lived in the 5th century BC and saw himself as a poet dedicated to preserving and interpreting great deeds and their divine values.

Another famous ancient Greek author ("Sing, o muse, the wrath of Achilles ...") inspired a very bad poet to what is perhaps the worst line of poetry ever written without satiric intent: "Now, Muse, let's sing of rats." In fact, the poet changed the last word from the original "mice" to "rats" because he found "rats" more dignified.

What sets this anthology apart from others on bad poetry is the quality and tone of the short editorial commentaries preceding each poet. These witty and elucidating notes enhance the enjoyment of the poetry. This anthology also seems to include the largest selection of what the editors of The Stuffed Owl anthology would call bad bad poets. Fred Emerson Brooks, for example, was noted for his partiality for writing in dialect, a crowd-pleasing late nineteenth century device. The Petras siblings include his "multicultural masterpiece" "Foreigners on Santa Claus" and his "particularly nauseating" baby talk poem "The New Baby." The latter qualifies for "The Worst Baby Talk Poem." Such stunningly awful examples of special bad poems are highlighted, labeled, and scattered throughout the text. Highly recommended even for serious readers!

Let's qualify this review with how much I love bad things. I spend most of my free time wondering incessantly about what the creator of such inconceivable nonsense had in mind. Why did you, Ms. Parrington, think it was okay to write a poem about a 'dissected dog'? Why, William McGonagall, do you think your "mastery" of poetic license should have no meter, no forward movement and incredibly bad rhyme schemes? And, what the heck do you say to "Ode on a Mammoth Cheese"??? All in all, the Petras did a magnificent job of putting this compendium of what-not-to-do-if-you-want-to-be-a-poet. And, don't we all want to be poets? Keep trying and maybe you will be in volume 2 of this excellent awfulness.

Bad poetry is one of life's greatest illicit joys, and there are some real gems here, along with much commentary by the editors who help explain why this stuff is so terrible in case you somehow can't figure it out. For my taste, there are too many little excepts here and not enough complete poems. For fans of this sort of thing, I also strongly recommend two other books. The first is "Pegasus Descending," an earlier collection of bad verse that was among the first of its kind. (I think it may come back into print in 2001?) Hilarious. The other is the catalog of "Moba," the Museum of Bad Art in Massachusetts. Lord, are those paintings funny.