This clever collection of poems offers a word for each of the twenty–six letters— E for elevator, I for igloo, S for science—followed by a brief, playful definition. The subject of the poems are wide–ranging, and young readers will enjoy discovering the word or words in each poem that start with the featured letter.
A Poetry Journal to Poem Your Days Away! Don't wait for inspiration to strike! Whether you're an aspiring or published poet, this book will help you get in a frame of mind to make creative writing a consistent part of your life. With prompts from Robert Lee Brewer's popular Writer's Digest blog, Poetic Asides, you'll find 125 ideas for writing poems along with the journaling space you need to respond to the prompt. • 125 unexpected poetry prompts such as from the perspective of an insect, about a struggle, or including the word change • Plenty of blank space to compose your own poems • Tips on unique poetic forms and other poetry resources Perfectly sized to carry in a backpack or purse, you can jot down ideas for poems as you're waiting in line for a morning coffee or take it to the park for a breezy afternoon writing session. Wherever you are, your next poem is never more than a page-turn away.
Bring the magic of poetry to life with R is for Rhyme: A Poetry Alphabet. From acrostics and ballads to meter and metaphor, author and poet Judy Young has written a delightful collection of poems to illustrate poetic tools, terms and techniques. Each term or technique is demonstrated in an accompanying poem so readers can see the method at work. Whether haiku or rap, sonnets or cinquain, budding writers of all ages will be inspired to put their imaginations to work crafting their own poems.Judy Young remembers showing one of her poems to her grandmother when she was about 10 years old, and she has been in love with writing poetry ever since. Judy is the author of another Sleeping Bear Press book, S is for Show Me: A Missouri Alphabet. Judy lives with her family near Springfield, Missouri. Victor Juhasz's humorous illustrations and caricatures have been commissioned by such clients as Time, Newsweek, The New Yorker, Rolling Stone, and The New York Times. He is also the illustrator of the popular D is for Democracy: A Citizen's Alphabet. Victor lives and works in Stephentown, New York.
The "World" in Robert Lee Brewer's Solving the World's Problems is a slippery world ... where chaos always hovers near, where we are (and should be) "splashing around in dark puddles." And one feels a bit dizzy reading these poems because (while always clear, always full of meaning) they come at reality slantwise so that nothing is quite the same and the reader comes away with a new way of looking at the ordinary objects and events of life. The poems are brim-full of surprises and delights, twists in the language, double-meanings of words, leaps of thought and imagination, interesting line-breaks. There are love and relationship poems, dream poems, poems of life in the modern world. And always the sense (as he writes) of "pulling the world closer to me/leaves falling to the ground/ birds flying south." I read these once, twice with great enjoyment. I will go back to them often. -Patricia Fargnoli, former Poet Laureate of New Hampshire and author of Then, Something
In her highly ambitious second collection of poems, Katrina Vandenberg takes her inspiration from the alphabet. A meditation on the hump of a camel, and what it hides. A reminder that tomatoes belong to the nightshade family, and a vision of the plant as Adam’s downfall. The Book of Kells, gold-leafed and extravagantly decorated by monks. Titled for letters of the Phoenician alphabet, and employing such innovative forms as the ancient ghazal, these poems are richly grounded in objects both humble and exotic. Vandenberg explores the intersection of power and forgiveness, and deciphers the seemingly indecipherable in emotionally poignant ways. “What will protect us?” one poem asks. “The words will be our weapons. In the end.” Moving between the physical and the abstract, the individual and the collective, The Alphabet Not Unlike the World unearths meaning—with astonishing beauty—from the pain of loss and separation.
How a Poem Moves is a collection of 35 short essays that walk readers through an array of contemporary poems. Sol is a dynamic teacher, and delivers essays that demonstrate poetry's range and pleasures through encounters with individual poems that span traditions, techniques, and ambitions.
In this companion book to "Autumn: An Alphabet Acrostic," the pleasures of spring, from April to Zenith, are captured in twenty-six short poems. New grass and daffodils, hopscotch and kite flying, kittens under the porch and baby birds under the eaves are the subjects of Steven Schnur's evocative verses and Leslie Evans's luminous linoleum-cut illustrations. When read vertically, each poem reveals a playful acrostic, making every handsomely designed page a double treat for the eye as well as a joyous tribute to the season.
The renowned Rilke scholar brings the poet’s work to life for modern readers through 26 essays, each devoted to a single word found in his writings. Ulrich Baer’s The Rilke Alphabet explores the enduring power of one of the world’s greatest poets, a visionary who saw that even the smallest overlooked word could unlock life’s mysteries. With deep insight and love for Rilke’s language, Baer examines twenty-six words that are not merely unexpected in his work, but problematic—even scandalous. Through twenty-six evocative essays, Baer sheds new light on Rilke’s creative process and his deepest thoughts about life, art, politics, sexuality, love, and death. The Rilke Alphabet shows how the poet’s work can be a guide to life even in our contemporary world. Whether it is a love letter to frogs, a troubling—though brief—infatuation with Mussolini, a sustained reflection on the Buddha, or the impassioned assertion that freedom must be lived in order to be known, Rilke’s thoroughly original writings pull us deeply into life. Baer’s decades-long experience as a scholar, translator, and editor of Rilke’s writings allows him to reveal unique aspects of Rilke’s work. The Rilke Alphabet will surprise and delight Rilke fans, and deepen every reader’s sense of the power of poetry to penetrate the mysteries of our world.