James CrewsCríticas

A decent anthology with work by familiar poets (dead or alive) and many new-to-me poets. Still, the book and cover, didn't do much for me..but it ld be something YOU might like it...(Maybe I'm spending too much time reading Ukraine Lit)...

(*OK, it also bugged me that the editor included at least three of his own poems)½

There are certain times that different versions of a book don’t work well. This is a book that does not work well as an e-book. It’s hard to follow and you lose a lot by not having the book in your hands. I tried and could not finish the book. I would highly recommend that if you want to, look at this anthology and read it to get a physical copy.

Nikita Gill writes in the forward of The Wonder of Small Things that “Every poem in this collection is filled with such awe and reminds us of the duty of the poet: to collect that awe and write it down.”

James Crews has collected poetry that will remind readers to wonder at this world, to be alive to it, and allow its transforming power to change us.

Each section concludes with a Reflective Pause in which Crews considers a poem’s message, followed by Invitation for Writing and Reflection with a writing prompt inspired by the poem.

Themes of the Reflective Pauses include Let Wonder Guide You, A Time for Everything, Choosing Peace, The Place of Attention, The Awe of Aliveness, Nothing for Granted, The Gift of Stillness, Winks of Calm, and Worlds of Wonder.

The poems are not only presented thematically in groups, but are so perfectly curated as to flow one to the next. The effect was to draw me into the next poem. All the poems in a section work together to produce a deeper emotional connection.

There is a wonderful mix of poets, the well-known next to the emerging. You will find Wendell Berry’s beloved The Peace of Wild Things and Jo Harjo’s Redbird Love, Jane Kenyon’s In Several Colors and Rita Dove’s Horse and Tree. I discovered many poets I was unfamiliar with and plan to read more by them.

I found myself so moved at times, I was inspired to jot down my own lines.

I loved the poems about the commonplace, like “My Mother’s Colander” by Dorianne Laux describing the many ways the old tin colander was put to use, or Penny Harter’s “Just Grapefruit,” describing the preparation of a grapefruit to eat. We are reminded to take enjoyment in every part of life.

I highlighted so many lines.

What is the way to pay tribute to glory?
The aspen knows: applaud with every breeze.
Web by Marilyn McCabe

One of my favorite poets, Joseph Fasano, is included with his haunting poem “Letter” with its ending “change me, change me change me. All I want is to be more of what I am.”

And if it’s true that we are alone,
we are alone together,
the way blades of grass
are along, but exist as a field.
from Belonging by Rosemary Wahtola Trommer

Today
when the bigness of sky asks whoever

is standing beneath it are you ready
the gray trees drowsing and temporarily losing

the last of their burnt sienna leaves will say yes
and you will say yes and I will say yes too.
from Poem of Thanksgiving by Nathan Spoon

I have been reading books on some very somber subjects. These poems lifted my spirits at the end of the day.

Thanks to the publisher for a free book.

So, to be clear, I'm in the middle of a reading slump and thinking of quitting blogging, but I never turn down the chance to read, review, and promote any anthology by James Crews.

(And it was possibly the thing to pull me out of the slump.)

I've read and adored The Path to Kindness and How to Love the World, and The Wonder of Small Things has become my favorite of the three. This collection focusing more on poems about nature is the first collection that has forced me to read and love nature poetry; I had just assumed in the past that it wasn't for me.

All three of James Crew's anthologies contain reflection exercises, and while those are interesting, my main aim has never been those when the man puts together a phenomenal anthology. Between William Sieghart and James Crews, I never run out of poems when I need them.

Thank you NetGalley and Storey Publishing for the chance to read and review this book!

Spring 2022 (April);

Thank you to James Crew, Storey Publishing, Storey Publishing, LLC, Netgalley and all of the authors involved with the creation/publication of 'The Path to Kindness' received a free arc for an honest review.

I loved this little book of poetry more than I thought it would be possible when I first opened it. It's about all the small and big moments where kindness (and every other emotion) touches a life, traces to the veins of all we've been, are, and might/will be. I found myself with my fingers at my lips or my hand over my heart at several of these, seeing my life reflected across so many lives and words and hearts.

A lovely selection of modern poems about hope, gratitude and living in the moment. I enjoyed the discussion questions at the end and wish there were questions for each of the poems.

DNF 33%
This wasn't what I thought it would be and I just couldn't get into the collection.

Are you happy to be alive? James Crews, the editor of this poetry anthology, asks the reader. He acknowledges the difficult times and notes that each of the one hundred poems included in this collection asks the same question of the reader. These are very short poems written by both familiar and unfamiliar poets (at least to me). Periodically, throughout the book, the editor takes a “Reflective Pause” where he very briefly discusses a single poem, and offers some questions as an invitation for “writing and reflection.”

I found this book while browsing the bookstore this past winter (and wondering why the store didn’t have the book face-out — the old bookseller in me can’t help having such thoughts ) and I was immediately attracted to the short poems. Quite different from the often angst-ridden volumes we know and love (which my husband refers to as “little pellets of angst”). And while I didn’t connect with all of them, I very much enjoyed many of these mostly one-page, life-affirming poems, and was particularly drawn to those which spoke of nature. I was not much interested in the “Reflective Pause” pages, but other readers may enjoy them. In fact, I enjoyed this little anthology so much that I bought four more copies and sent them to friends I thought would like them. That, in itself, is a recommendation.½

Name: How to love the world
Author: James Crews
Genre: Poetry, Anthology
Rating: 4/5
Review:
An anthology of poetries about hope, gratitude and forgiveness from well known poets. Each poetry is different from the other, unique in their own ways, in thoughts, in ideas, but they resonate to each other, like the different colour of light, so different, yet the same.This book gives the feeling of being whole, being complete. I found most of the poetries delightful and pleasing, some were heartbreaking like the poem "At the age of 18" by Amanda Gorman and "Forgiveness" by Marie McCue. I found the poem " In Gratitude" by Abigail Carroll.
It is perfect for all type of readers. This book contains all kinds of sentiments, pain, loss, hope, gratitude, forgiveness, and happiness. How To Love The World is definitely an amazing book and I would recommend it to all the readers.

In these days of anxiety and uncertainty, this book soothes and reassures. After an insightful introduction by Ted Kooser, James Crews brings together poets who encourage connection, harmony, compassion.

It didn’t hurt that the work is by some of my favorite people, including Barbara Crooker, Donald Hall, Jane Kenyon, Dorianne Laux (whose “Mother’s Day” left such an impression on me), W.S. Merwin (how I want to emulate his gift), and Connie Wanek (if you haven’t read her Consider the Lilies: Mrs. God Poems, do so!).

I also discovered new poets (who are not new, but new to me):
Mary Elder Jacobsen. You can’t go wrong with a turtle poem! I, too, am “mesmerized by a moving shell.”
Alison Luterman. Her “I Confess” made me smile after a stressful day.
Danusha Laméris. “Small Kindnesses” was perhaps my favorite of the collection.

So many moments of joy and simple pleasures fill these pages. I’ll be re-reading it often.

I read this book as a song of praise for all the small things we pass unnoticed, for the people and times and blessings we often miss. It’s also a joyful shout-out to nature, to farmers and fields. Finally, it’s a love letter to the poet’s husband.

Images like this will stay with me:

“. . . needing only / the rush of water / over strawberries / I picked myself . . .”

“ . . . and I’ll rest on the banks of the pond, / my mind at last like the head / of the snapping turtle breaking the surface / for air, and sending wave after wave / back to shore where my only question now / will be whether or not to leap in / and add my ripples to his.”

“. . . the window I left open // an inch or so all day / so I could listen // to winter rain erasing / months of piled-up snow . . .”

This is the first I’ve read of James Crews’s poems, but I’m already looking forward to his next book.

(3.5)