The sense of living a loved life pervades ‘The Mother of All Words’. The collection doesn’t suggest smugness or even satisfaction, but more of a sense of gratitude.
An Anthology on Reading and Writing Poetry
“The Poetry Reader” by Mark Yakich is an anthology of poems about reading and writing poetry.
Poets and Poems: Sandra Marchetti and “Diorama”
In “Diorama,” poet Sandra Marchetti moves through a series of almost -photograph-like scenes , each poem like a scene in a ViewMaster (TM).
Poets and Poems: Christina Cook and “Roaming the Labyrinth”
In “Roaming the Labyrinth,” poet Christina Cook translates the poems of and writes about the French poet Marie-Claire Bancquart.
Poets and Poems: Katie Kalisz and “Flu Season”
In “Flu Season,” poet Katie Kalisz writes what is collectively a love sonnet to her husband, family, home, and life.
Poets and Poems: Michelle Ortega and “When You Ask Me, Why Paris?”
In ‘When You Ask Me, Why Paris?’, poet Michelle Ortega reflects on a Paris of both place and memory—and the hints of Paris you stumble over in New York City and even in your own hometown.
Poets and Poems: Luci Shaw and “An Incremental Life”
In “An Incremental Life,” poet Luci Shaw takes stock of the personal, the poetic, and the sacred with the sense of experience lived.
Poets and Poems: Forrest Gander and “Mojave Ghost”
“Mojave Ghost,” a novel poem by Forrest Gander, combines the physical landscape of the desert with the interior landscape of the mind.
Poets and Poems: Siân Killingsworth and “Hiraeth”
In “Hiraeth: Poems,” Siân Killingsworth looks at how we remember people and events and how we never can go home again.
Poets and Poems: Donna Hilbert and “Gravity”
“Gravity: New & Selected Poems” by Donna Hilbert allow the reader to see the poet’s development of her theme of home, family, and life.
Poets and Poems: Emily Patterson and “So Much Tending Remains”
In “So Much Tending Remains,” poet Emily Patterson watches her child grow from birth to toddlerhood, reflecting what parenthood means.
Poets and Poems: Marjorie Maddox and “Seeing Things”
This Collection is a story of three generations of women, a story of depression, abuse, and dementia. If I gave the story a title, it might be “Broken Things, Mending.”
Religion and Poetry Do Mix – and Mix Well
Understanding the strong connection between religion and poetry can be both insightful and richly rewarding.
Poets and Poems: Ryan Ruby and “Context Collapse”
“Context Collapse” by Ryan Ruby is either a long poem serving as a critical literary essay, or an essay written in poetic form.
Poets and Poems: Jessica Cohn and “Gratitude Diary”
In “Gratitude Journal: Poems,” Jessica Cohn expresses gratitude for the unusual and unexpected, but always with something larger in mind.
Poets and Poems: Donna Hilbert and “Enormous Blue Umbrella”
“Enormous Blue Umbrella,” the new poetry collection by Donna Hilbert, fuses, memory, childhood, and life into simple and satisfying poems.
Poetry as Autobiography: Hannah Sullivan and Richard Eyre
Hannah Sullivan”s “Three Poems” and Richard Eyre’s “Place to Place” deftly and often movingly utilize poetry for autobiographies.
Donald Hall and Andrew Motion Write Poetic Memoirs
I’m not sure why I first started reading memoirs by major poetic figures, but I recently read two that struck me as particularly significant in the development and history of what we consider contemporary poetry.
Poets and Poems: Louis MacNeice and “Autumn Journal”
Published in the spring of 1939, “Autumn Journal” by poet Louis MacNeice captured the spirit of the era – and the change coming.
What Remains: The Collected Poems of Hannah Arendt
“What Remains: The Collected Poems of Hannah Arendt” gathers the 70 often moving poems philosopher Arendt wrote from 1923 to 1962.