MAKE A CIRCLE KEEP US IN: Poems For a Good Day
By
Family warmth and unity are celebrated in this series of spare, impressionistic poems--or perhaps it's one long one--beginning with ""morning/hard/ to get/ up/ out of the soft/ warm/ bed. . ."" when the little girl is wakened exuberantly by da da, ""a great big singing/ bear."" The typical day proceeds through ""ma ma/ love/ kiss,"" ""munch/ lunch/ at/ noon/ peanut/ butter/ in/ a/ s/ poon. . ."" when ""da da/ yells like bro/ ken/ bells. . ."" but points out later that ""yells are loud but float away"" whereas ""hugs are solid. . . ."" After supper, talks with grandparents, tub time and bed there's an electrical storm ""in/ the/ mid dle/ of/ the mid/ dle/ of the/ mid dle/ of/ the night"" when, children and parents in bed together, ""we are/ each with each/ and stronger than a show/ off/ storm/ we are/ we."" It's impossible to convey here the visual effect of the words on the pages, but the design has much to do with the poems' effectiveness, and Ronald Himler's black and white drawings of a fat, backwoodsy father and a nicely individualized happy family add to the overall impression of a strong, affectionate bear hug.