An enchanting tone poem
340427
The author began her career as an illustrator, then moved to weaving words, but her words paint living pictures as vivid as any pen or paintbrush could portray. Tuck Everlasting is in the end a children's book that ferries adults across the river of time to an ageless innocence much like that of her characters.
2694684
The Shifting Line by Chelsea Rathburn is a lovely and elegant poetry collection in which the intimate is made universal and the profound personal.  Rathburn creates neo-formalist poetry which is remarkable for its ability to use end rhyme patterns without falling into a sing-song rhythm.  The poems read with the natural flow of a casual conversation.  In the hands of a less ambitious poet, a free verse poem would read with the same ease, possibly using internal rhymes, but would never rise to the purity of Rathburn's commitment to her chosen form.

Although some poems fall flat for me, the ones that sparkle brightest are the ones that seem to be the most personal, that resonate for me the way that Linda Pastan's poetry does.  Over all, I enjoyed the collection and I honestly suspect that when I revisit it, as a surely shall because I am making it a part of my permanent library, the pieces that didn't click for me this time will take on a new and surprising luster next time.  With good poetry, this is often how these things work.
2616404
"The only way I know to describe the beauty of Rilke's poetry is to say it this way: Imagine God Himself or His Choir Invisible or a Seraphim Angel breathing soft, ohhh, with such pure divine tranquility, akin to a whispered, mellifluous lullaby, with all the transcendence that IS the sublime Word Painter Rilke, being sung directly into your heart, indeed, to the deepest corner of your soul. There is no other Poet like Rainier Maria Rilke. Any person who ever loved a sentence should read at least one compilation of this divinely guided prose master's genius and feel this heart song for your own pleasure. Highly, Highly Recommended."

Buddha in Glory

Center of all centers, core of cores,
almond self-enclosed, and growing sweet--
all this universe, to the furthest stars
all beyond them, is your flesh, your fruit.

Now you feel how nothing clings to you;
your vast shell reaches into endless space,
and there the rich, thick fluids rise and flow.
Illuminated in your infinite peace,

a billion stars go spinning through the night,
blazing high above your head.
But in you is the presence that
will be, when all the stars are dead.
~Rainer Maria Rilke

Child in Red

Sometimes she walks through the village in her
little red dress
all absorbed in restraining herself,
and yet, despite herself, she seems to move
according to the rhythm of her life to come.

She runs a bit, hesitates, stops,
half-turns around...
and, all while dreaming, shakes her head
for or against.

Then she dances a few steps
that she invents and forgets,
no doubt finding out that life
moves on too fast.

It's not so much that she steps out
of the small body enclosing her,
but that all she carries in herself
frolics and ferments.

It's this dress that she'll remember
later in a sweet surrender;
when her whole life is full of risks,
the little red dress will always seem right.
~Rainer Maria Rilke

**While the Kindle Edition "Poems" by Ranier Maria Rilke with forward by Jessie Lamont, that is offered for download at the price of $1.99 does not contain the poems addressed above, it does have within it's covers, fifty-three poems, ranging from some of his best known prose to a few hidden gems. All pure Rilke. They are transcendent as he is-- transcendence being the state his words will carry you away to.&nbsp;<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/POEMS-by-Rainer-Maria-Rilke/dp/B006ZSVY6K/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">POEMS by Rainer Maria Rilke</a>
2571898
This wonderful book is by a really good writer, poet Piaras O Cionnaoith, who writes both books for adults and children, enchanting stories and lovely poems. Both adults and children love what he writes. This new collection of delightful poems will thrill kids again. He tells us that the poems are sleep-inducing picture poetry for children 3 to 103. Parents will find that kids love to have them read to them as they love to hear fairy tales. The forty poems in this book, usually three or four stanzas each, are sweet, succinct poems that special little ones will be able to understand with ease. The book contains some pretty drawings. There are also ten tips for young and old for how to have a good nights sleep.
Significantly, the poems introduce children to a world of poetry. This is good. Kids who read at home enjoy an advantage over those who do not.
Among the forty poems are: The Fairy, Tilly the Tiger, Butterfly Season, The Little Witch, Happy Me, My Little Kitten, and My Pet Goldfish. The poems are so good that kids will want to memorize some of them.
1127933
Some contemporary cynics have said that poetry is a dying literary form, that there is nothing left that hasn't been already said. To those who feel this way, reading a few pages from this book may change your perception, as here is a poet who writes from the heart, expressing the full ranges of human emotions.

Erina Booker's&nbsp;<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Living-Poetry-Volume-2/dp/1300541032/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Living Poetry Volume 2</a>&nbsp;starts with 'Four Seasons', a simple four line poem that sets the pace for this book, and does so quite expressively. Next we find 'Summer Enchantment', written in heroic rispetto form with idyllic and evocative words accompanied with the photo of a dragonfly on the opposite page.

In the pages here we encounter many poetic forms, ranging from free verse to sonnet, from simple haiku (and haiku sequence) to triolet. This is a book of many facets, and Ms. Booker is a skillful master, painting a visual picture with each line.

But poetry is a personal thing, and when I first encountered her 'Me, You, and Leonard Too', it compelled me to put on a particular favorite album, Leonard Cohen's&nbsp;<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Old-Ideas/dp/B0067LY4WG/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Old Ideas</a>&nbsp;as I read the words here, and started over again from the beginning. We meet people in these pages, folks who are commemorated in verse, and the emotions and reflections felt by the author, beautifully expressed.

There's quite a bit of food for thought in this in this slim 67-page volume, but there was some disappointment for this reader as well. I've encountered Erina Booker's photos on the 'Net before, and the black and white reproductions of them do not do her expressive images justice, to put it directly. This Australian author is a well-traveled and highly educated counselling mentor, along with being a skilled amateur photographer, and it was disappointing for this reader to see her excellent images presented this way. It happens.

This is not the first book by Ms. Booker as the title would indicate. Her&nbsp;<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Living-Poetry/dp/1300176547/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Living Poetry</a>&nbsp;was published in 2012, and it's on my list of poetry books to read as I find her words to be compelling and thought provoking.

It's difficult to summarize a book like Ms. Booker's&nbsp;<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Living-Poetry-Volume-2/dp/1300541032/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Living Poetry Volume 2</a>, as in terms of the poetry itself, it's a 5-star offering. It's the lackluster display of the photos and the presentation itself that brings it down, as that part is only worthy of a 3-star rating in itself, and why I've rounded this review off to four stars.

But read Erina Booker's words by themselves, if you will, as they make for a 5-star poetry offering. They're quite evocative, and obviously written from the heart.

3/2/2013
1939880
You will experience the seasons of change with this writer's poetry.  There is a uniqueness in how the poems are presented with the content to match.
1570640
John Foster - poet, wordsmith, wit - delights us in this collection of original poems written in forms familiar to most poetry lovers (sonnet, villanelle, haiku) and forms unfamiliar, at least to me. Do you know what a Persian ghazal is? Foster explains and provides an example of eloquent and haunting beauty. You will laugh aloud at unexpected turns, and you will be touched by Foster's wisdom. I often found myself thinking, "How did he DO that?" and then reading a selection aloud to my wife. This is a volume I will treasure and share with others. Foster's brief comments following each poem are an added delight, providing insight into the poems and glimpses into the character of the poet himself.
1832102
This a beautiful collection of poetry. Stickney evokes the moods of nostalgia and melancholy perfectly, with autumnal imagery. As far as I can tell, the best parts are the Dramatic Verses and the sonnets, but I have yet to explore the rest of the book. My favorite poems are Mnemosyne and Eride, especially the fifth part, which ends with this stanza:

The evening fills the garden, hardly red;
And autumn goes away like one alone.
Would I were with the leaves that thread by thread
Soften to soil, I would that I were one.
3660635
Being a long-time fan of the written and spoken word ever since childhood, where it all started with a volume of some of Shakespeares plays and poetry someone had given me, I have acquired a great regard for people who have the talent to put their thoughts and feelings from pen to paper (or on their word processors).

Regarding Claude Garretsons volume of romantic and erotic poetry, Loveology:  A Soliloquy of a Mans Heart, I have been a fan of his poems for many years and have been hoping for him to put together a volume ever since he had his former poetry website, The PoetTree Caf.  This tome features many poems from that site, as well as some new ones, and the poems are broken down into 6 sections:  Scenes of Love:  Pursuit, Romance, Eroticism, Break Up, The End, You Can Still Smile, and conclude with an Encore, comprised of a longer poem, and one of my favorites from the former site, My Beloved.

I enjoy the flow of the wording of the poems; the depth of feeling:  longing for the one who is there, somewhere, but for now, just out of reach; the dance of romance when the one is at hand, but hesitates to show her feelings; and the passion that is had when both souls come together in mutual admiration and desire; and at the end of the love affair, sadness, but with reflection, for the most part, of good remembrances.

I love how Gods presence and Nature permeates many of the poems, and I also like the musicality in the words, which seems apparent, given the fact that Mr. Garretson is also a musician.  I can even see some of the poems as songs or being presented in a spoken word forum, with a nice jazzy piece, like Patrice Rushens Softly, playing in the background to enhance the mood of the poem.  (Uncharted, for example, is a nice poem for such music to be read quietly or aloud to).  In this, I hope that Mr. Garretson will eventually incorporate his works on CD as well as in print.

If the eyes are the windows to the soul, then the words that Claude Garretson uses as expressions of the many facets of love, is refreshing, and it is a privilege to be allowed into the heart and mind of a man who seems to be very romantic, sensitive, and at times, even humorous.
3671508
A sweet and atmospheric collection of poetry with an autumn theme. My favorite is "Misty Autumn Road;" I found it to be the most evocative and personal piece in the collection.
2121059
Poetry is a tremendous vehicle for reading aloud to little ones, and captivating them with the lyrical feel and sound of words long before they can read for themselves. This beautifully illustrated, uniquely written book tells a charming seasonal story via the medium of poetry. It includes the author's cleverly constructed verse, whereby her own words are seamlessly mixed with lines from the work of traditional writers and poets.

It opens with a young girl, Ivy, caught in the depths of winter, pining for warmer days, so she can enjoy playing outside. As the scenes unfold, the narrative gathers pace and darkness gives way to light and bright in the illustrations, thus gently teaching the listening and reading along child about the changes that occur in the natural world between winter and spring.

I read this aloud as you would with a child younger than the designated age group of 5-8 and it didn't seem dissonant to me. Rather, it struck me as a carefully put together poetic journey, with the kind of rhythm and rhyme that was eminently suitable for the topic on the page.

A helpful bibliography highlights precisely which writer/poet's words and work were used and threaded through the narrative. It would make an excellent teaching resource for parents to encourage children keen to discover more of the poets work, and an aid in appreciating the chosen poems in their totality. A lovely book to enjoy with my toddler grandson now and for years to come!
460200
This is a splendid collection that left me marveling at the Hintzs ability to create meaning within the limitations of the English language. Seagulls are not just gulls but are piccolo gulls: a birds song is blue jay brag; the sound of ocean waves becomes kettle drum waves; and the night sky is a tiara of stars. Her poems tell stories of people and places, dreams realized and dashed, fantasies imagined  or sometimes real. The authors humor is never far with a frequent twist unveiling a second meaning to words that a moment ago seemed to so clearly mean something else, as in the sweet and funny poem that ends with, Dont drop the ring.

This is a book to keep by your bed at night to keep you smiling as you drift into quiet reverie.
4232119
Lyrical, whimsical, and even at times pretty heavy, this volume of poetry by Australian native and US resident Mem Cunningham, is a little treasure. I have found myself returning to it and unexpectedly finding a poem that relates perfectly to that moment in my life. This book gives me a warm feeling of familiarity and a sweet sense of who this charming person must have been.
736204
From the start Mr. Edrich unabashedly let's you in on what you're about to travel through in his poems.  It's right there on the cover, in the title, the key word being, 'Dream.'  If you don't pay attention to dreams, or find there reference wanting, this collection of poems may not be for you.  But if you give any credence at all to them, and the mindscape they play in, you're about to be transported.
Many of the short poems are like little gems of ephemeral experiences, earthly or otherwise. While not in the form of traditional Haiku, they very much feel in the same tradition tonally, and in mood. And some of them are my favorite, such as.....'Always'.

In between the sun and moon,
two birds are on the water.

One is gone.

The teapot is whistling,
The chair is empty.

Wherever I am,
I hear the song of your life.

The poem is a good example of how Mr. Edrich can move so easily from a kind of subjective dream like romance to a certain kind of mundane or stoic observance, and then suddenly back again to a very personal subjective longing that's rarely bitter, or hopeless.  All seem wrapped in a larger context and feeling of love, and of course, loss; the true vessel this collection of poems navigate on.

The longer poems are like gondola rides through easy intuitive currents.  Even when words and stanzas are at their most passionate, they deliberately flow gently in romance and longing.  No doubt there will be certain readers who may feel that some of the longer poems rely upon a kind of by-gone romantic sentiment, or are even sentimental in their basic nature - but even there Mr. Edrich builds these dreamscapes with such quiet intensity and resolve that you simply go with it, if for no other reason than to marvel at his symbolism and/or syntax.

This is Jeff Edrich's first collection of poems and you know in the reading that it will be far from his last.  That's a promise that makes this book so worth reading, among others.  You feel you are embarking on a journey that is only going to get better and better.  There's a bit of thrill in that, and it's one of the many reasons I recommend this book of poems!
4881620
This enjoyable collection of poems presents reflections on life, nature and love. The book is divided under various chapter headings, and there is a wide variety of themes and ideas in here, along with a myriad of constructions to the poems themselves.

One theme is love. Here, the writing turns to the overwhelming nature of love and all of its faces - the joy, purity, expectation, suffocation, disappointment and pain of loss. The whole spectrum. The poems read like memories, snippets from life. You get the sense that you are reading someone's secret diary with all of the openness and raw experience within. The emotion spills off the page. From poems about falling in love we find inspiration in the beauty of things. When love ends we find broken dreams, numbness and aching words. I imagine that the writing will strike a chord with the reader's own experiences.

Some of my favourites... Moonbeam moths, which depicts the easy joy of friendship in soft words with a jovial, light voice - 'moonbeam moths float in'. Raindrop, with its youth and promise of everything. The author's note says it was the first poem that she wrote, inspired by a river. Images of salmon rush through the waters, watched by the author, wishing to connect with nature and become one with it. It has a light, flowing rhyme, which trickles with the river. A refreshing poem. The mouth-watering Chocolate made me want to reach for a big mug of the hot stuff! And I like Cinnamon for its deep simplicity.

There are many images of the refreshing nature of water - in Mirror, it brings refreshment to the lonely 'mirror moon'. Similarly, in the poems about love, it is desire and emotion that bring refreshment - as nourishing and necessary as water itself. In Bubble Bath, you feel like you're sinking into a long soak in an evocative poem that could connect these themes of water and love. I also liked Kumquat for its rich images of orange, heat, wild landscapes, verdant grass and ripening fruit that you can almost taste. Nature and desire awaken. The author's note says the poem was inspired by Africa. I think the notes about each poem work. They lock each piece of writing into the author's experience, revealing when, how and why each poem came to be. They also reveal that each one has formed a part of the author's life.

This is a lovely, well-edited book to dip into, whether you're soaking in the bath or not! Word Worlds reveals the writing process itself and has two lines that sum up these poems - 'a rush of words / inspiration set afire'.
3766597
This is one of those rare volumes, like the 'Lyrical Ballads' of Wordsworth and Coleridge which announces to the world the arrival of a new major Poet. Not all thought so at the time. And many found Stevens too dandified and precious to be a major voice. But among the poems of this collection are among the most beautifully colorful musical creations in Modern Poetry.

This volume contains the following Poems:
Earthy Anecdote
Invective Against Swans
In the Carolinas
The Paltry Nude Starts on a Spring Voyage
The Plot Against the Giant
Infanta Marina
Domination of Black
The Snow Man
The Ordinary Women
The Load of Suger-Cane
Le Monocle de Mon Oncle
Nuances of a Theme by Williams
Metaphors of a Magnifico
Ploughing on Sunday
Cy Est Pourtraicte, Madame Ste Ursule, et Les Unze Mille Vierges
Hibiscus on the Sleeping Shores
Fabliau of Florida
The Doctor of Geneva
Another Weeping Woman
Homunculus et La Belle Etoile
The Comedian as the Letter C
From the Misery of Don Joost
O Florida, Venereal Soil
Last Look at the Lilacs
The Worms at Heaven's Gate
The Jack-Rabbit
Anecdote of Men by the Thousand
The Silver Plough Boy
The Apostrophe to Vincentine
Foral Decorations for Bananas
Anecdote of Canna
Of the Manner of Addressing Clouds
Of Heaven Considered as a Tomb
Of the Surface of Things
Anecdote of the Prince of Peacocks
A High-Toned Old Christian Woman
The Place of the Solitaires
The Weeping Burgher
The Curtains in the House of the Metaphysician
Banal Sojourn
Depression Before Spring
The Emperor of Ice-Cream
The Cuban Doctor
Tea at he Palaz of Hoon
Exposition of the Contents of a Cab
Disillusionment of Ten O'Clock
Sunday Morning
The Virgin Carrying a Lantern
Stars at Tallapoosa
Explanation
Six Significant Landscapes
Bantams in Pine-Woods
Anecdote of the Jar
Palace of the Babies
Frogs Eat Butterflies. Snakes Eat Frogs. Hogs Eat Snakes. Men Eat Hogs.
Jasmine's Beautiful Thoughts Underneath the Willow
Cort&egrave;ge for Rosenbloom
Tattoo
The Bird with the Coppery, Keen Claws
Life is Motion
Architecture
The Wind Shifts
Colloquy with a Polish Aunt
Gubbinal
Two Figures in Dense Violet Night
Theory
To the One of Fictive Music
Hymn from a Watermelon Pavilion
Peter Quince at the Clavier
Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird
Nomad Exquisite
Tea
To the Roaring Wind
Poems Added to Harmonium (1931)
The Man Whose Pharynx Was Bad
The Death of a Soldier
Negation
The Surprises of the Superhuman
Sea Surface Full of Clouds
The Revolutionists Stop for Orangeade
New England Verses
Lunar Paraphrase
Anatomy of Monotony
The Public Square
Sonatina to Hans Christian
In the Clear Season of Grapes
Two at Norfolk
Indian River

Among these are a number of the signature- poems of Stevens: Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird, The Emperor of Ice- Cream, Peter Quince at the Clavier, To the One of Fictive Music,Anecdote of the Jar, Bantams in Pine- Wood, The Snow Man, Sunday Morning.
My own personal favorite is : Peter Quince at the Clavier . The poetry of its music is among the most deeply felt and colorful in all Stevens work. Its concluding Stanza rings in my mind at this moment.
"Beauty is momentary in the mind-
The fitful tracing of a portal
But in the flesh it is immortal.

The body dies; The body's beauty lives,
So evenings die, in their green going,.
A wave interminably flowing
So gardens die their meek breath scenting
The cowl of winter
done repenting .
So maidens die to the auroral
Celebration of a maiden's choral.

Susanna's music touched the bawdy strings
Off those white elders: but escaping
Left only death's ironic scraping.
Now in its immortality it plays upon the clear viol of her memory
And makes a constant sacrament of praise."

Stevens intense musicality, his love of color, the delicate intricacy of his long lines, his precise intellectual playing in searching for the Ideal in the Real, his seeming to make even Beauty a necessary fiction- all these and more- make him one of the most interesting and greatest of twentieth- century American poets.
2625959
This poetry collection is "all currents, eddies, tides and whirlpools". It uses descriptive phrasing to describe a number of sexual encounters, which gives the collection the feel of being one continuous poem, instead of several separate poetic works, or an epic poem, if you prefer that description.

It has a strong use of language that makes even girdles seem sexy.

In a few words, this is narrative poetry. It describes events or happenings more so than feelings or inner workings.

The poet sometimes uses more traditional rhyme schemes, like abab that gives a few poems an almost Shakespearean feel. (The first three quatrains of Shakespeare's sonnets are written in abab rhyme schemes followed by a couplet.)

Because it feels like one continuous poem, it comes across as more of a sensual epic than a poetry collection. It is easy to get lost in the sensual descriptions and difficult to distinguish between poems.

The poet offers some interesting wordplay, puns, and lovely created words like "fleshed".

It also uses slant and subtle rhyming for a softly musical feel.

There is even some very biological and anatomical language like "cerebral cell" that adds a kind of scientific romanticism to some of the imagery.

The collection lacks cohesiveness as a work though here and there it contains some lovely phrasing and imagery. My favorite images include:
"made us monsoon adandonment"
"so now undo me, see legs first"
"I'm delicate/with zips and buttons"
"let's make each other beautiful"
"and be my dizzy charge"
"A whispered, tiptoed entry"
"Sweet juggling of the elements: /Water to fire and earth to air"