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“The Joy of Poetry” by Megan Willome

By Glynn Young 13 Comments

pink peony bloom - "The Joy of Poetry" by Megan Willome
Certain images of my mother stick in my head, the earliest being her reading to me from a tall green edition of Grimm’s Fairy Tales. Other images crowd in: holding me in her arms as we watched the dogcatcher take our Boston terrier away (no treatment for mange existed at the time); her as the room mother bringing cupcakes when I was in third grade; the expert manager of garage sales; the long weekend when I visited during her recovery from surgery when she was 89, and how she talked about her life before she married my father.

I’m not sure when it happened, but at some point, I realized that she was a person who was more than just my mother—I began to see her as a person with hopes and dreams, challenges and disappointments, happiness and grief.

The Joy of PoetryThat realization permeates The Joy of Poetry: How to Keep, Save & Make Your Life with Poems by Megan Willome. It’s a book about poetry, yes, but it is also a book about how poetry becomes an important facet of the large and small events of one’s life.

And, yes, it is a book about life. I hesitate to call it a memoir, although it is that. But to call it only a memoir would be a disservice. The Joy of Poetry is a meditation, a collection of memories, an understanding of what poetry can do, and a quiet working through of grief.

When Willome was 11, her mother was diagnosed with cancer. Through treatment, determination, and a lot of grit, she survived it; the cancer went into remission. But the remission wasn’t permanent; decades later it returned and was eventually fatal.

Willome, an editor and writer living in Texas, tells her mother’s story through poetry. In so doing, she tells her own. And while she’s telling these intensely personal stories, she’s also explaining what poetry is and what it does.

Photo of Megan Willome by Sandra Heska King

Photo of Megan Willome by Sandra Heska King

We discover poetry in the everyday; we learn about how it uses symbols; we find there is such a thing as a poetry “buddy”; and then, even if you don’t like what you think poetry is you can always find it in song. There is poetry in crisis, and there is poetry in fiction. There is weird poetry, good and bad poetry, old poetry, and dream poetry.

Willome is at once theoretical and practical, emotional and metered. Poetry has infused her life but she understands the people who tend to run from it. She provides resources and helps, and she includes poems, some wonderful poems, some of which she has written and others which were written by the famous and not-so-famous.

And when she is done, we understand something obvious and yet still profound: poetry is life. Poetry is the life of Willome’s mother, and her own life. And in the common humanity we all share: the poetry of our mothers’ lives, and our lives, too. The Joy of Poetry tells all of our stories.

Photo by Mike Beales, Creative Commons, via Flickr. Post by Glynn Young, author of the novels Dancing Priest and A Light Shining, and Poetry at Work.

Browse more poets and poems

__________________________

How to Read a Poem by Tania Runyan How to Read a Poem uses images like the mouse, the hive, the switch (from the Billy Collins poem)—to guide readers into new ways of understanding poems. Anthology included.

“I require all our incoming poetry students—in the MFA I direct—to buy and read this book.”

—Jeanetta Calhoun Mish

Buy How to Read a Poem Now!

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Glynn Young
Glynn Young
Editor and Twitter-Party-Cool-Poem-Weaver at Tweetspeak Poetry
Glynn Young lives in St. Louis where he retired as the team leader for Online Strategy & Communications for a Fortune 500 company. Glynn writes poetry, short stories and fiction, and he loves to bike. He is the author of the Civil War romance Brookhaven, as well as Poetry at Work and the Dancing Priest Series. Find Glynn at Faith, Fiction, Friends.
Glynn Young
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Filed Under: Blog, book reviews, Books, Finding Inspiration, poetry

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Comments

  1. Brad Evans says

    April 12, 2016 at 9:28 am

    This is a terrific book.

    Reply
    • Megan Willome says

      April 12, 2016 at 9:33 am

      Thank you, Brad.

      And Glynn, thanks for helping to explain what the book is better than I have. It’s almost a genre unto itself, which is not great for an elevator pitch.

      Reply
    • Bethany says

      April 12, 2016 at 11:48 am

      Isn’t it? I agree.

      Welcome to Tweetspeak Poetry, Brad. Feel free to get aquainted with the community here further and find some fun in our Mischief Cafe, if you haven’t already. 🙂 https://www.tweetspeakpoetry.com/mischief-cafe/

      Reply
      • Brad Evans says

        April 13, 2016 at 8:52 am

        OK, will have to check out the Mischief Cafe.

        Reply
    • Glynn says

      April 12, 2016 at 11:50 am

      Brad, I agree!

      Reply
  2. Bethany says

    April 12, 2016 at 10:31 am

    I’m reading the book now and loving it. Thank you for this review, Glynn, I’m going to share it with my friends this morning.

    Reply
    • Glynn says

      April 12, 2016 at 11:51 am

      Thanks, Bethany!

      Reply
    • Megan Willome says

      April 12, 2016 at 12:20 pm

      Thank you for sharing, Bethany. So glad you’re enjoying it!

      Reply
  3. Susan Jones says

    April 12, 2016 at 2:25 pm

    Excellent review, Glynn. It’s on my “hope to read soon” list.

    Reply
  4. Sandra Heska King says

    April 12, 2016 at 7:59 pm

    You’ve told this story well, Glynn. Megan’s book is telling my story–and becoming part of my story.

    Reply
  5. Sandra Heska King says

    April 12, 2016 at 8:01 pm

    P.S. I LOVE that photo. 😀

    Reply
    • Megan Willome says

      April 13, 2016 at 11:00 am

      Thank you, Mrs. Photographer. I finally put up a new one online since my hair has actually been short for 14 months. But it will always be my favorite.

      Reply

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