Review by Booklist Review
Poet Young, author of six vividly imagined collections, puts on his editor's hat, one he wears well in previous anthologies dedicated to blues and jazz poems as well as here in this unique and invaluable gathering of contemporary poems of grief and healing. This effort stems from his memorializing his late father in Dear Darkness (2008), a loss that sharpened his perceptions of what Young cites as a poetry of necessity. As he observes, No one wants to write an elegy. But we simply must. And in writing, reading, and listening to elegies, understanding, solidarity, and solace are found. Young offers an original and personal analysis of the modern elegy, and uses his own experience with the cycle of mourning to structure the book in sections titled Reckoning, Regret, Remembrance, Ritual, Recovery, and Redemption. And the poems are as diverse and universal as the emotions of loss. Poems by Dylan Thomas, Sharon Olds, Mary Jo Bang, Nick Flynn, Natasha Trethewey, Cornelius Eady, Gerald Stern, Lucille Clifton, and many others exquisitely and empathically translate pain into beauty, sorrow into catharsis.--Seaman, Donna Copyright 2010 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Young (Dear Darkness) is not only a prolific and acclaimed poet, but also the editor of several anthologies of poems, by African-American poets, inspired by the blues and jazz, and from the body of work by John Berryman. This latest anthology is his most topical, and, perhaps, his most useful, gathering poems about suffering and overcoming loss. Organized around subjects such as "Regret," "Remembrance," and "Ritual," this book includes poets both canonical and contemporary, with perhaps a refreshingly larger helping of the latter: poets like Marianne More, Philip Larkin, and Elizabeth Bishop join newer names like D.A. Powell, Matthew Dickman, and Meghan O'Rourke; there are also plenty of reigning masters, like Louise Gl ck. "Death is nature's way/ of telling you to be quiet," writes Franz Wright, somewhat harshly. With calmer acceptance, Theodore Roethke reminds us of the need to "wake to sleep, and take my waking slow." While these poems won't offer easy answers to grief, they will keep the kind of company that only poetry can, because only poetry can convincingly say, as Ruth Stone does in the last poem of this book, "All things come to an end./ No, they go on forever." (Mar.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review
In this beautiful and practical book, experienced anthologist and poet Young (Jelly Roll: A Blues and Dear Darkness) has gathered poems of grief and praise. He includes selections from almost every well-known contemporary poet, including Kim Addonizio, John Ashbery, Mary Jo Bang, Gwendolyn Brooks, Billy Collins, and Mark Doty-and that's just a few from the beginning of the alphabet. Despite the subject, almost all the poems celebrate life as well; as David Young reminds us, "It will all go on. Rime, frost, mist;/ at the cracked mirror the janitor/ will comb his hair and hum." But whether the poems are memorializing stillbirths or newborns, grandparents or parents, siblings or friends, loss is always paramount. A useful subject index with clear headings, such as "For a Funeral Service," "Mothers," "Fathers," "Spouses and Lovers," and "Siblings," helps in the selection of memorial poems. Verdict This book will provide solace for the bereaved. Both clergy and family members will use it to create meaningful memorial services, and all poetry lovers will find much to celebrate and ponder here.-Doris Lynch, Monroe Cty. P.L., IL (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
