Poetry and About Poetry

Here are some Poems of solace during hard times – courtesy of The Atlantic.

Here are some Poems of solace during hard times – courtesy of The Atlantic.

Here are some Poems of solace during hard times - courtesy of The Atlantic.

To Cleave: Poems by Barbara Rockman My rating: 5 of 5 stars Barbara Rockman’s “To Cleave” is an amazingly beautiful, poignant, powerful book. Here we find what we seldom do in a collection-a careful eye that truly sees both the natural world and the very human; a craft that seeks just the right word, not just for sense but for sound and thus a music so often missing in contemporary poetry, rich in assonance, alliteration, quiet and subtle half-rhymes, never overbearing, always true. Sections seem devoted to a backpacking trip, her childhood, raising her daughters, natural disasters like Fukushima, married life, love, loss, and love again. The emotion is not wrought with false notes or strained surrealism. The images are carefully chose, metaphor and symbolic truths living below their quiet surface. The domestic life blends with the natural world. A certain knowledge of geology and biology adds fullness. There are poems where she sews herself into oneness with that na

To Cleave: Poems by Barbara Rockman My rating: 5 of 5 stars Barbara Rockman's "To Cleave" is an amazingly beautiful, poignant, powerful book. Here we find what we seldom do in a collection-a careful eye that truly sees both the natural world and the very human; a craft that seeks just the right word, not just for sense but for sound and thus a music so often missing in contemporary poetry, rich in assonance, alliteration, quiet and subtle half-rhymes, never overbearing, always true. Sections seem devoted to a backpacking trip, her childhood, raising her daughters, natural disasters like Fukushima, married life, love, loss, and love again. The emotion is not wrought with false notes or strained surrealism. The images are carefully chose, metaphor and symbolic truths living below their quiet surface. The domestic life blends with the natural world. A certain knowledge of geology and biology adds fullness. There are poems where she

Walking the Sunken Boards by Linda Blaskey My rating: 4 of 5 stars This is actually a collection by four women: Linda Blaskey, Gail Braune Comorat, Wendy Elizabeth Ingersoll and Jane C. Miller. Here are poems by four individual women, all with singular voices, but a harmony in beautiful chorus made from the disharmonies of living. Here are poems that are by turns bitter, hopeful, loving, strong–poems that reveal their individual journeys as if true to a larger mythic simplicity. I could not want to nor will not single one of these women out for special praise. The poems are of a consistent high quality. They each make wonderful use of imagery from nature, rural life, family history. Husbands, fathers, children, friendships–that my rend or mend or both. You read and hear their truths. I look forward to rereading the collection and hearing their voices over again. View all my reviews

Walking the Sunken Boards by Linda Blaskey My rating: 4 of 5 stars This is actually a collection by four women: Linda Blaskey, Gail Braune Comorat, Wendy Elizabeth Ingersoll and Jane C. Miller. Here are poems by four individual women, all with singular voices, but a harmony in beautiful chorus made from the disharmonies of living. Here are poems that are by turns bitter, hopeful, loving, strong–poems that reveal their individual journeys as if true to a larger mythic simplicity. I could not want to nor will not single one of these women out for special praise. The poems are of a consistent high quality. They each make wonderful use of imagery from nature, rural life, family history. Husbands, fathers, children, friendships–that may rend or mend or both. You read and hear their truths. I look forward to rereading the collection and hearing their voices over again. View all my reviews

Walking the Sunken Boards by Linda Blaskey My rating: 4 of 5 stars This is actually a collection by four women: Linda Blaskey, Gail Braune Comorat, Wendy Elizabeth Ingersoll and Jane C. Miller. Here are poems by four individual women, all with singular voices, but a harmony in beautiful chorus made from the disharmonies of living. Here are poems that are by turns bitter, hopeful, loving, strong--poems that reveal their individual journeys as if true to a larger mythic simplicity. I could not want to nor will not single one of these women out for special praise. The poems are of a consistent high quality. They each make wonderful use of imagery from nature, rural life, family history. Husbands, fathers, children, friendships--that my rend or mend or both. You read and hear their truths. I look forward to rereading the collection and hearing their voices over again. View all my reviews

Irregular Images by Edward Ahern My rating: 3 of 5 stars Edward Ahern’s collection of poems, “Irregular Images,” bears reading, but the quality is indeed irregular. His “At the Cottage” is a fine example of a sestina and “The Shoal” has a simple eloquence. You do have to read through others that are less engaging or not up to the same quality of craftwork. View all my reviews

Irregular Images by Edward Ahern My rating: 3 of 5 stars Edward Ahern’s collection of poems, “Irregular Images,” bears reading, but the quality is indeed irregular. His “At the Cottage” is a fine example of a sestina and “The Shoal” has a simple eloquence. You do have to read through others that are less engaging or not up to the same quality of craftwork. View all my reviews

Irregular Images by Edward Ahern My rating: 3 of 5 stars Edward Ahern's collection of poems, "Irregular Images," bears reading, but the quality is indeed irregular. His "At the Cottage" is a fine example of a sestina and "The Shoal" has a simple eloquence. You do have to read through others that are less engaging or not up to the same quality of craftwork. View all my reviews

iō Literary Journa l will publish my poem “Unknown Alternate” online in an upcoming issue. My thanks for this and for their having previously published 3 other of my poems.

From Authors Publish, a list of Emergency Funds for Writers: Emergency Funds for Writers

iō Literary Journa l will publish my poem “Unknown Alternate” online in an upcoming issue. My thanks for this and for their having previously published 3 other of my poems.

iō Literary Journa l will publish my poem "Unknown Alternate" online in an upcoming issue. My thanks for this and for their having previously published 3 other of my poems.

From Authors Publish, a list of Emergency Funds for Writers: Emergency Funds for Writers

Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie My rating: 4 of 5 stars View all my reviews

Rocket Boys by Homer Hickam My rating: 4 of 5 stars View all my reviews

The Fall of Richard Nixon: A Reporter Remembers Watergate by Tom Brokaw My rating: 2 of 5 stars View all my reviews

Eon by Greg Bear My rating: 4 of 5 stars View all my reviews

Eon by Greg Bear My rating: 4 of 5 stars View all my reviews

The Fall of Richard Nixon: A Reporter Remembers Watergate by Tom Brokaw My rating: 2 of 5 stars View all my reviews

Rocket Boys by Homer Hickam My rating: 4 of 5 stars View all my reviews

Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie My rating: 4 of 5 stars View all my reviews

Writing Fiction: A Guide to Narrative Craft by Janet Burroway My rating: 4 of 5 stars I first read Burroway’s book in its second edition. Now in its tenth edition, Writing Fiction is even better. I recommend it for the beginning or more mature writer. View all my reviews

The Jolly Corner by Henry James My rating: 4 of 5 stars View all my reviews

The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie My rating: 4 of 5 stars View all my reviews

Death on the Nile by Agatha Christie My rating: 4 of 5 stars View all my reviews

The Journey to the East by Hermann Hesse My rating: 5 of 5 stars View all my reviews

The Good Neighbor: The Life and Work of Fred Rogers by Maxwell King My rating: 3 of 5 stars Fred Rogers deserves a better biography. The facts are here but the book needs editing, with too much unnecessary repetition and a lack of organization. View all my reviews

Writing Fiction: A Guide to Narrative Craft by Janet Burroway My rating: 4 of 5 stars I first read Burroway’s book in its second edition. Now in its tenth edition, Writing Fiction is even better. I recommend it for the beginning or more mature writer. View all my reviews

The Jolly Corner by Henry James My rating: 4 of 5 stars View all my reviews

Death on the Nile by Agatha Christie My rating: 4 of 5 stars View all my reviews

The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie My rating: 4 of 5 stars View all my reviews

The Good Neighbor: The Life and Work of Fred Rogers by Maxwell King My rating: 3 of 5 stars Fred Rogers deserves a better biography. The facts are here but the book needs editing, with too much unnecessary repetition and a lack of organization. View all my reviews

Robert B. Parker’s The Bitterest Pill by Reed Farrel Coleman My rating: 4 of 5 stars View all my reviews

The Journey to the East by Hermann Hesse My rating: 5 of 5 stars View all my reviews

Animal Farm by George Orwell My rating: 5 of 5 stars View all my reviews

The Murder on the Links by Agatha Christie My rating: 3 of 5 stars View all my reviews

The Federalist Papers by Alexander Hamilton My rating: 5 of 5 stars Profound essays by great minds I have read selected individual Federalist Papers before, some several times, but never all and in order. The three minds behind them and particularly that of Hamilton continue to impress me with their depth and character. How fortunate we were in 1787-88 to have had such minds assemble a new government. And how fortunate we once were that in that moment they were allowed to so create. It will likely never happen again. These papers elucidate what some of the “Founders” believed and show how relevant their thoughts remain. Every educated citizen should read these Papers. Too often they are misrepresented. Too often betrayed. View all my reviews

The Everglades: River of Grass by Marjory Stoneman Douglas My rating: 4 of 5 stars View all my reviews

Wheels at the Mall and other Poems by Thomas M. McDade My rating: 4 of 5 stars No detail of everyday life escapes Tom McDade’s eye. No small story in a mall, along a street, or while traveling is unworthy of celebration. McDade’s with and deep humanity interplay to reveal what lies below the surface of our experience. View all my reviews

The Big Four by Agatha Christie My rating: 2 of 5 stars A mildly amusing ripoff of Sherlock Holmes jousting with Moriarty. View all my reviews

The House at Pooh Corner by A.A. Milne My rating: 5 of 5 stars View all my reviews

Everyday Pasta by Giada De Laurentiis My rating: 4 of 5 stars View all my reviews

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie My rating: 4 of 5 stars View all my reviews

The Soul of an Octopus: A Surprising Exploration Into the Wonder of Consciousness by Sy Montgomery My rating: 4 of 5 stars View all my reviews

Why We’re Polarized by Ezra Klein My rating: 4 of 5 stars View all my reviews

James Madison: A Son of Virginia and a Founder of the Nation by Jeff Broadwater My rating: 4 of 5 stars View all my reviews

Village of Knives by Helli Fang My rating: 3 of 5 stars A collection of surreal and violent imagery, metaphors piling over each other, sometimes straining for sense, sometimes briefly eloquent. View all my reviews

The Splendid and the Vile: A Saga of Churchill, Family, and Defiance During the Blitz by Erik Larson My rating: 4 of 5 stars View all my reviews

Falling off the Empire State Building by Jimmy Pappas My rating: 3 of 5 stars View all my reviews

Angel Eyes by Ace Atkins My rating: 4 of 5 stars View all my reviews

Franklin & Washington: The Founding Partnership by Edward J. Larson My rating: 3 of 5 stars View all my reviews

The Life of Thomas More by Peter Ackroyd My rating: 3 of 5 stars View all my reviews

Franklin and Winston: An Intimate Portrait of an Epic Friendship by Jon Meacham My rating: 4 of 5 stars View all my reviews

Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie My rating: 4 of 5 stars View all my reviews

Rocket Boys by Homer Hickam My rating: 4 of 5 stars View all my reviews