The Poetry Shelf
Along Greathouse Road
Anne McCrady
Eakin Press
PO Drawer 90159, Austin TX 78709-0159
1571688420 $16.95 eakinpress.com
Along Greathouse Road is an impressively observant and enthusiastically
recommended compendium of poetry showcasing the imaginative images and
lyrical
language of Texas poet Anne McCrady. An assistant editor and critic for
"Gin
Bender Poetry Review" and active with the Poetry Society of Texas, Anne
McCrady
draws upon the landscape and people of East Texas in verses that will
engage
the reader's rapt attention. Recovery: They thought that she would
die/faced
with this disappointment,/that she would simply fold her wings/and plunge
toward earth,/a fragile, feathered song/about to end.//They had not known
her/days ago when blessings came/like bluebird pairs,/and her
determination
grew/from seeds of doubt,/not flocks of friends.//And so, as rumors
spread/of
how her world was caving in,/she found the essence of her flight/within
her
heart,/then faced the sky/and caught the wind.
The Earth's Wall
Giorgio Caproni, author
Ned Condini, translator
Chelsea Editions
Box 773, Cooper Station, NY, NY 10276
0972527125 $15.00 www.amazon.com
Superbly translated from the original Italian by Ned Condini, and
presenting
its poems in the bilingual format of Italian on one page and English on
each
facing page, The Earth's Wall: Selected Poems 1932-1986 is a truly
breathtaking
anthology of Giorgio Caproni's immortal verse. Born in 1912, surviving his
term
of service fighting in World War II, Caproni puts his unfettered emotions
on
the page. The lyrical, often rhyming rhythms of the original Italian are
especially is not to be missed. The Chance: The chance was good. / I too
wanted
to shoot. / I aimed upward. A star / or the eye (the ice) of God?
Prayer Against Famine & Other Irish Poems
John Knoepfle
BkMk Press
University of Missouri - Kansas City
5101 Rockhill Rd, Kansas City MO 64110
1886157456 $12.95 umkc.edu/bkmk
Award-winning author and poet John Knoepfle presents Prayer Against Famine
&
Other Irish Poems, a work that embraces his Irish roots and contemplates
the
human drive for survival in spite of terrible suffering. Compassion and
tragedy
intertwine in these brief, free-verse compositions that evoke a sanctity
of the
human spirit. Dancing with the Inupiaq: the man dancing on one foot / told
us
he did not know / where his songs came from / only that his grandmother
sang
them // we understood how it was with him / how the man at the desk and
that
one / skulking in the beloved fields / would tell him it did not matter //
so
we put on our gloves / and we all got up and danced / keeping time as well
as
we knew / and awkward as a room full of bears // learning how the inupiaq
dance.
John Berryman: Selected Poems
Kevin Young, editor
The Library of America
14 East 60th Street, NY, NY 10022
19310826934 $20.00 www.loa.org
John Berryman: Selected Poems is the latest addition to the outstanding
"American Poets Project" series from The Library of America. Deftly edited
for
the reader by poet and essayist Kevin Young, this is the the showcase
collection of poetry by the Pulitzer Prize winning John Berryman and will
aptly
serve to introduce a whole new generation to his work that ranges from
wrenching religious poems to verse that is characterized with a
mesmerizing
diction. King David Dances: Aware to the dry throat of the wide hell in
the
world,/O trampling empires, and mine one of them,/and mine one gross
desire
against His sight,/slaughter devising there,/some good behind, ambiguous
ahead,/revolted sons, a pierced son, bound to bear,/mid hypocrites amongst
idolaters,/mockt in abysm by one shallow wife,/with the ponder both of
priesthood & of State/heavy upon me, yea,/all the black same I dance my
blue
head off! Also very highly recommended as newly released titles in of the
"American Poets Project" series are William Carlos Williams: Selected
Poems
(1931082-715, $20.00) and Amy Lowell: Selected Poems (1931082707, $20.00).
Father Said
Hal Sirowitz
Soft Skull Press
71 Bond Street, Brooklyn, NY 11237
Publishers Group West (dist.)
www.pgw.com
1932360271 $23.00 1-800-788-3123
Award-winning poet Hal Sirowitz presents Father Said, an anthology of his
one-page free-verse poems, written in an almost conversational style, that
distill the connection between father and son into bits of wisdom, large
and
small, that strengthen a lifelong bond. A compelling and eminently
readable
compendium of ageless wisdom, wry insight, and catch-one's-eye phrases
make
Father Said a superb giftbook even for individuals who may be unaccustomed
to
reading poetry - the words speak with a plain-terms, everyman spirit that
one
does not need years of literary education to wholeheartedly appreciate.
Highly
recommended. Mother of Invention: They say necessity is the mother / of
invention, Father said, but you / don't feel the necessity of inventing /
an
excuse for why you don't visit us anymore. / Your sister, who has given
less
than you, doesn't / visit us much either but at least she invents a new
excuse
/ every week that she's unable to come.
Old Songs
Sharanya Naik
eBookstand Books
1589092031 $13.95 www.ebookstand.com www.cyberread.com
Old Songs is a brief collection of twenty-seven free-verse poems plus one
prose
story that retells an ancient East Indian epic, The Ramayana, through the
voice
of its heroine. Steeped in East Indian culture and experience, as well as
the
universal themes of love, the eternal quest to find a person who
understands
one's soul, and individual wanderings in the physical and spiritual
realms. A
moving fusion of storytelling, mythos and rhythm. "Lament": So many lost /
not
to death / to anger, fear / so weak the ground / beneath relationship / so
easily swallowed...
Both Sides Now
Connie Corcoran Wilson
1st Books Library
1663 South Liberty Drive, #2, Bloomington, IN 47403-5161
1410781216 $13.95 1-800-839-8640 www.1stbooks.com
Both Sides Now is a compilation of short essays, advice on life, poems,
memoirs
and more from a junior high teacher and a writer of forty-seven years. The
slice-of-life vignettes resonate with empathy for the everyday trials, as
well
as individual empathy and worry for the larger events that shape the flow
of
things all around us. A smattering of black-and-white photographs
illustrate
this compilation of thoughts about daring to get one's ears pierced (long
after
becoming a mother to teenagers), the dilemma of which to choose, paper or
plastic, to true tales of child-raising and more compile the bits and
pieces of
prose. The poetry encompasses a timeless quality that offers the chance to
clear one's mind and contemplate in between the passages of insights.
"Words":
If fewer words were spoken, / If fewer words were said, / If deeds alone
were
the mark of a man. / Not the "catch of an eloquent plege. // If fewer
words
were spoken / If fewer words were said / If, for all the fake forensics, /
There were simple words, instead. // And a man stated just what he started
to
state / Without false fuss or further ado. / If you weren't a politician /
I'd
probably listen to you.
The Brass Girl Brouhaha
Adrian Blevins
Ausable Press
1026 Hurricane Road, Keene, NY 12942
1931337101 $14.00 1-800-283-3572 www.ausablepress.org
Award-winning poet Adrian Blevins has penned The Brass Girl Brouhaha, a
compilation of original free-verse poetry that especially reflects upon
the
experience of being a woman. Bits of the author's biography, the ritual
and
questionable rhetoric of the North American Baby Shower, and much more
pour raw
emotion onto the page, with no falsifying or prettying of harsh realities.
"Defects of the Adolescent": Didn't she after all put herself out there
like an
hors d'oeuvre / on a pewter platter? / And didn't boys after all appear
and
hand over their smokes? // The boys would stand there with their lips
trembling
/ until she was magically in the garden extending her wrist and / pinching
off
a rose stem.
Gardening In The Dark
Laura Kasischke
Ausable Press
1026 Hurricane Road, Keene, NY 12942
1931337225 $14.00 1-800-283-3572 www.ausablepress.org
Award-winning poet Laura Kasischke presents Gardening in the Dark, a
compilation of free-verse poetry that blends daily experience with
contemplation of omnipresent forces, both internal and external, that
drive one
for good or ill. Speaking directly from the recognizable portions of
ordinary
life, yet carrying a deeper undercurrent of the human struggle, the words
are
evocative of the human spirit coping with adversity in mundane and severe
circumstances alike. "The Internet": The first time I set down to it alone
/ I
am flesh surrounded by space. // The space begins at the edges of my body
/ and
from there it expands to contain // everything. // I've sinned. / Cannot
be
saved. / Surrounding me is this strange haze / made of information.
Being a Father
Michael S. Glaser
Seasonings Press
PO Box 1, St. Mary's City, MD 20686
0938572423 $12.95
Written by a father of 30 years' experience, Being a Father is a
compilation of
poetry concerning the difficulties, rewards, and timeless changes involved
in
being Dad, and sharing the tremendous responsibility to raise and guide a
new
human life. A vivid, compelling free-verse assembly that speaks straight
from
the heart, and a superb giftbook to show one's eternal appreciation for
the
tireless efforts of well-meaning dads. "The Given World (in the aftermath
of
9/11)": On the plate of what was once the future, / the present. // It is
not
what I hoped it would be. / My anguish frightens me. // Tears well their
apology / my gut is sick with rage. // This is not the world for which / -
when
you were born - / I prayed.
The Breath of Parted Lips: Voices From the Robert Frost Place, Volume II
Sydney Lea, editor
CavanKerry Press
6 Horizon Road No. 2901, Fort Lee, NJ 07024
096788568X $28.00
The Breath of Parted Lips is an anthology of work from over 150 poets,
judiciously selected from the Frost Place, a sanctuary for poets and
poetry.
The collected poems honor Robert Frost, himself a lifelong teacher of
poetry
who encouraged the creative visions of young students, and Donald Sheehan,
who
has nurtured the legacy of the Frost Place. An original, eye-opening
lyrical
compendium, flourishing with the brilliance of creative work.
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