MBR: The Poetry Shelf

The Poetry Shelf

Expedition
Arthur Vogelsang
The Ashland Poetry Press
401 College Avenue, Ashland, OH 44805
9780912592718, $22.95, www.ashland.edu

A man of literature who has traveled all around the country, Arthur
Vogelsang has experienced much in his life and it shows in his poetry.
"Expedition: New and Selected Poems" his newest volume in a long line
of work, continues his themes of an ever moving life that is always
looking for a way out. With excellent verse, "Expedition" is a fine
addition to any poetry collection. "Critical": Life star, dirt/Is your
baby,/More valuable than snow/(shine on Each without my command)./Long
books in strong buildings,/Thin summary books in the gorgeous
postperson's hands./They are true, crystalize truly/Or separate into
the benign bottles of chapters/What is one, or badly named, or before
people./This morning something red and powerful/Sent to me, me
personally, me/The center of all blue suns,/Is handed over by an
untouchable young black woman/-- Bad Kafka Critique at the front door/
Enigmatic forever or until most people become like him.

We Only Weep in Dreams
Timothy Muller
Black Bishop Press
PO Box 867, DeWitt, NY 13214
9780615386447, $12.95, www.rhyminginthenight.com

To sell one's body has become a symbol of many things, from femininity
to oppression to mastery of the self. "We Only Weep in Dreams" is a
collection of poetry from Timothy Muller as he discusses prostitution
and its wide ranging symbolism throughout history. "We Only Weep in
Dreams" is a thoughtful read with plenty to ponder, recommended. "Her
Heart": If you had held her by the wrist/You would have felt heart
insist/That it was not a beating drum,/Summoning battles still to
come,/And no metallic recurring chime,/Tabulating hollow time;/Her
heart was not an echoing gong,/Sounding out an ancient wrong,/But some
precarious thing of flesh and blood,/Before she took her loves on to
bed.

Message in a Bottle
Ann Schultz
Artpacks
9780979024795, $16.00

Through her life, she has experienced much, and now she wishes to
express much. "Message in a Bottle" is a collection of poetry from
ninety-two year old Ann Schultz as she shares her experiences through
fine verse and poignancy. With much to ponder, "Message in a Bottle"
is a fine collection, recommended. "A Weary Nursing Home Resident
Contemplates Heaven": Is there a rec director there/to keep us moving
when we want to rest?/To put our minds and muscles to the test?/And if
we don't take part we fall from grace/If so, I'd like to try the other
place.

Violet Transparent
Anne Coray
Future Cycle Press
75 Henson Road Southwest, Cave Spring, GA 30124
9780982861233, $18.50, www.futurecycle.org

Nothing is eternal. "Violet Transparent" is a collection of poems from
Alaskan poet Anne Coray, as she offers her own opinions on the world
around her with a delicate touch on the political and environmental.
Thoughtful and intriguing work, "Violet Transparent" is an excellent
and recommended pick. "Window Feather": Weeks ago, a junco./Now I
recall the body, already stiff,/that I laid in a paper bag near the
stove/as if hopefulness could revitalize cold wings.

Silent, Sacred, Holy, Deepening Heart
Em Claire
Silvergirl Publications
PO Box 1085, Ashland, OR 97520
9781571746368, $19.95, www.emclairepoet.com

Traveling the world over with a spiritual purpose has proven ever
enlightening for Em Claire. "Silent Sacred Holy Deepening Heart" is a
collection of poetry from Em Claire, who uses her poetry as a call
back to the mystic poets of the past to delve in after the human
spirit with a unique drive. A labor of dedication and experience,
"Silent Sacred Holy Deepening Heart" is a spiritually dedicated
anthology, highly recommended. "All for Love": All for the Dream &
Glory./All for the right to choose/All for something to live for./All
for something to lose./All for the Bite in the Beauty./All for the
Beast in the Bone./All for the Spirit and Flesh/being married with
Love/as the Sword/in the Stone.

Birthright
Gwendolyn Jensen
Birch Brook Press
PO Box 81, Delhi, NY 13753
9780984200306, $16.00

What is truly entitled to us at birth? "Birthright" is a collection of
poetry from Gwendolyn Jensen, who discusses life and death and how
this simple distinction drives us through our life and our
relationships. Simple and profound work, "Birthright" is an excellent
pick for poetry collections. "Forgiveness": is the generosity of snow/
beneath its seamlessness, seeping into/parched and wormy earth,
forgiveness knows/fierce knottedness of spite and brooding;/but when
time has done what time can do/and in the fumbling way of chance,/it
holds the heat at some remove,/like coal burning underground, or a
green canvas awning on a summer porch.

The Secret Admirer
Kyle Flak
Adastra Press
16 Reservation Road, Easthampton, MA 01027
9780982249581, $16.00

Poetry is simply another way of telling a story. "The Secret Admirer"
is a chapbook of poetry from Kyle Flak as he uses his own love of word
play to tell many a unique tale. Fun and hard to put down, "The Secret
Admirer" is not to be missed. "Attic": Remember the attic?/There were
eight hundred Halloween masks/up there. And a drum kit./Also: I kissed
you square on/the nose for some reason. You, who taught me/how to ride
a horse. I could happily/comb your brown hair all winter long/on that
funky orange couch we/used to use for hearing rooftop/raindrops. It
was classic./And dusty. I wouldn't go up there/alone. Missing you is
my/only hobby.

Seizing the Sun and Moon
Louis Daniel Brodsky
Time Being Books
10411 Clayton Road, Suites 201-203, Saint Louis, MO 63113
9781568091365, $15.95, www.timebeing.com

Watching one's child grow into an adult is one of the most prideful
and rewarding experiences one can have. "Seizing the Sun and Moon:
Volume Three of the Seasons of Youth" is the third collection of
poetry from Louis Daniel Brodsky as he reflects on the youth of her
daughter and her young life coming to terms with what she will become.
Sure to entice many a parent and poetry lover, "Seizing the Sun and
Moon" is not to be missed. "Fire": They turn in a fire,/Neither
gyrfalcons loosed, on the air,/By an impassioned Yeats/Hoping to see
words mate,/Give birth to brilliant trilling,/Nor artful phoenixes/
relying on feathered intellection//But, rather, my two precious
children,/Whose twin scintillas/form a graceful, soaring shape/Against
a blazing sun./They're both Noah's dove,/Which ignites my brain, with
revelation./I'm the breeze that fans their fire.

Prophesying the Past
Noel King
Salmon Poetry
c/o DuFour Editions
PO Box 7, Chester Springs, PA 19425
9781907056468, $19.95, www.salmonpoetry.com

Through much life and time, there is much to ponder. "Prophesying the
Past" is a collection of poetry from Noel King, as he speaks on the
subjects of times past with poignancy and thought to his poetry.
"Prophesying the Past" is a worthwhile addition to any poetry
collection. "Sisters at the Airport": throw arms around the years/
spent on the family farm./visitor sister presents a package,/resident
sister buys tea/and butters with tears/her mother's home-made brown
bread,/fresh from Ireland.

Silver Roses
Rachel Wetzsteon
Persea Books
853 Broadway, New York, NY 10003
9780892553648, $16.50, www.perseabooks.com

Some things are simply too good to be true. "Silver Roses" is a
collection of poetry from Rachel Wetzsteon, author of three previous
volumes as she brings her own blend of philosophy and skepticism to
the table as she appreciates the life around her. Smart and riveting
verse, "Silver Roses" is not a volume to be missed. "Gold Leaves":
Someone ought to write about(I thought/and therefore do) stage three
of alchemy:/not inauspicious metal turned into/a gilded page, but that
same page turned back/to basics when you step outside for air/and feel
a radiance that was not there/the day before, your sidewalks lined
with gold.

The Book of Emblems
Matthew Ladd
Wayweiser
c/o DuFour Editions
PO Box 7, Chester Springs, PA 19425
9781904130437, $15.95, www.dufoureditions.com

The most fascinating thing to the mind is the mind itself. "The Book
of Emblems" is a collection of poetry from Matthew Ladd, as he
provides his own musings and way with words on the mind and its
pursuits of consciousness in its life. Offering much to think about
with his poetry, drawing its titles to the devotional titles of
centuries ago, "The Book of Emblems" is a grade-A poetry collection.
"Coelcanth": Is it such a crime to stop writing?/We all could burn our
manuscripts/and not once dwell on their absence./The world would be
free of poets/Then I would be at liberty/to sit all day at the kitchen
table/carving toys for my children.

Transistor Rodeo
Jon Wilkins
The University of Utah Press
295 South 1500 East, Suite 5400, Salt Lake City, UT 84112
9781607810025, $12.95, www.uofupress.com

Some poets have a drive for creativity and inspiration. "Transistor
Rodeo" is a collection of award winning poetry from Joe Wilkin, a
professor formerly at the University of Utah with a particular way for
how the world rolls on in spite of our problems. "Transistor Rodeo" is
a fun and thought provoking read, highly recommended. "The Parable of
the Napkin": I walked over to you sassy/as a waitress you were/tall as
a triple scoop of french//vanilla remembering what my mother told me
about/women/What does she need/that only you can provide?//I brought
you a napkin saying/ it's hot you'll be wanting this

Two
Paul Vangelisti
Talisman House
PO Box 896, Greenfield, MA 01302
9781584980773, $14.95

With experience and love of the work, "Two" is the noted translator
and prolific poet Paul Vangelisti's latest work with the focus of
opposite extremes meeting. With thought and brilliance in verse, "Two"
is an excellent addition to poetry collections. "II:" We always began
carefully,/first settling on how many angels/and wine glasses in the
deck,/how many stifling afternoons/before any posturing about/you, me
or a household of words.

Mapmaking
Megan Harlan
BkMk Press
c/o University of Missouri-Kansas City
5101 Rockhill Road, Kansas City, MO 64110
9781886157774, $13.95, www.umkc.edu

Searching for what we've never had is a search few know how to
properly face. "Mapmaking" is a collection of poetry from Megan
Harlan, with poetry focusing on the search for something that is alien
to us yet we so want. With a unique style that brings about thought,
"Mapmaking" is a fine read and solidly recommended. "Animal Instinct":
The Morning's soft, shiny pelt./A bird's worth of restlessness./The
heart clattering like hooves on glass./Each hour's exposed, fractured
teeth.

The Poetry of William Carlos Williams of Rutherford
Wendell Berry
Counterpoint Press
2117 Fourth Street, Suite D, Berkeley, CA 94710
9781582437149 $24.00 www.counterpointpress.com

Essayist and poet Wendell Berry presents The Poetry of William Carlos
Williams of Rutherford, an in-depth examination of Williams' poetry,
his love of the Rutherford surroundings, and the indispensable,
inspirational value of Williams' work especially to poets everywhere.
"In his wish for a distinctly American poetry in 'the American idiom,'
Williams was theoretically if always critically a nationalist, but his
practice, of poetry as of medicine, was local. As a poet he attempted
a practicable local patriotism - if that word by now signifies
anything at all." A handful of Williams' sample poems illuminate the
thoughtful suppositions and conclusions concerning his literary genius
and contributions, in this excellent addition to literary and poetry
studies shelves.

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