POETRY FROM PARADISE VALLEY

POETRY FROM PARADISE VALLEY
Click Image to Visit the Pecan Grove Press Web Page for Poetry from Paradise Valley

POETRY FROM PARADISE VALLEY web page

Poetry From Paradise Valley

Pecan Grove Press has released an anthology of poems, a sampling of works published in Valparaiso Poetry Review during its first decade, from the original 1999-2000 volume to the 2009-2010 volume.


Poetry from Paradise Valley includes a stellar roster of 50 poets. Among the contributors are a former Poet Laureate of the United States, a winner of the Griffin International Prize, two Pulitzer Prize winners, two National Book Award winners, two National Book Critics Circle winners, six finalists for the National Book Award, four finalists for the National Book Critics Circle Award, two finalists for the Pulitzer Prize, and a few dozen recipients of other honors, such as fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, etc.

Readers are encouraged to visit the Poetry from Paradise Valley page at the publisher's web site, where ordering information about the book can be found.

Best Books of Indiana 2011: Finalist. Judges' Citation: "Poetry from Paradise Valley is an excellent anthology that features world-class poetry, including the work of many artists from the Midwest, such as Jared Carter, Annie Finch, David Baker, and Allison Joseph. It’s an eclectic and always interesting collection where poems on similar themes flow into each other. It showcases the highest caliber of U. S. poetry."
—Indiana Center for the Book, Indiana State Library

Monday, June 14, 2010

For My Sister . . .



My sister Barbara celebrates her birthday today; therefore, I offer her love and all my best wishes for a great day! In addition, I thought this would be an appropriate time to post a poem I wrote for her last year, “For My Sister After Her Surgery.” I’m pleased to note the poem was published earlier this spring in Tidal Basin Review, and it also will appear in my forthcoming collection of poetry, Tinted Distances, which is scheduled for release in 2011.


FOR MY SISTER AFTER HER SURGERY

. . . . . —for Barbara


Late May morning in Indiana,
. . . . . muted music plays on a neighbor’s

radio, birds murmur nearby, fill
. . . . . a willow at the edge of the meadow.

Somewhere from vast farmland
. . . . . beyond, corridors of cloud dust drift

and dissipate in a tractor’s wake.
. . . . . We await afternoon’s promised rain;

yet, for now, nothing but a flat
. . . . . backdrop of blue. Even the pair of tall

evergreens beside the yard barn
. . . . . remain still. Their stiff thin shadows

begin to recede into themselves,
. . . . . withdrawing under a bright windless

sky, all dark giving way to light
. . . . . on this day, as if driven into exile.

3 comments:

Rebecca Ramsey said...

That's really beautiful.
Thank you.

Maureen said...

This is a wonderful example of what a poem can say without telling us. Thank you.

Anonymous said...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BARBARA!!!!