An introspective and often amusing look at life and death by a visionary writer.
Award-winning poet Woodman’s fifth collection contains more than 40 poems that explore such topics as death, rebirth, and nature’s connection with both.
The book fittingly begins with the poem “A Child Asks,” which poses the question, “What is God?” The answer is profound in its simplicity: “I think, not darkly, / God is death. / If ashes are ashes / and dust is dust, / I go underground and rest. / There I am fertilized / by loam and water, / beckoned by life-to-be / When ready, I push up and / bloom color, / never knowing the hue.” “Ghosts of the Dead,” inspired by a painting by Marvin Cone, details spirits in a house appearing through the wallpaper “like a palimpsest” to tell their stories to the new occupants, who discover that they are not demons but “spirits reaching down with hearts / and open arms.” A séance is the setting for the darkly atmospheric “Benjamin,” in which a medium summons the spirit of a Civil War soldier who recalls the moment of his passing. A 4-year-old named Ricky in the uncanny “Past Life” is evidently a reincarnated spirit of a man found dead at a Hollywood movie studio decades earlier: “Mama, I used to be someone else.” Woodman also reflects on the invisible connections between those buried or memorialized in a Washington, D.C., graveyard in “What to Expect at Congressional Cemetery”: “All our arms are linked underground / wrapped around one another, our crooked / feet all know pain and suffering.”
Not all the poems stick to spiritual themes, however. Woodman finds inspiration in a wide array of objects and experiences—including sculptures, songs, and even the late B.B. King’s guitar. Perhaps the most poignant and personal poem is “Fillilulu,” in which the speaker recalls the death of her father and his endearing sense of humor. The speaker examines their connection with the natural world in “Riptide Swimmer,” which places them in the body of a clam: “I am a clam, soft and tender— / amorphic, gathering calcium from shells / of dead relatives in the terrigenous sediment / to build my own protective tent / When safe, I push to shore in the swell and ebb, / mingling with flotsam and seaweed.” In the heart-rending “Orca Ode,” a grieving killer-whale mother who’s lost her newborn calf pushes the body through the water for 17 days before letting it drift away and let it be “reclaimed by the sea’s blue womb.” This collection’s strength is in its loose thematic parameters; the poems are focused but have enough freedom to examine tangential subject matter. The blending of deep, introspective works with more humorous selections keeps the narrative momentum fresh. Arguably, the most memorable line in the entire collection comes from “Excursion (Ars Poetica Odyssey),” in which the speaker walks through a small town in search of inspiration: “I / look around for metaphor, find croissants.”
An introspective and often amusing look at life and death by a visionary writer.Pub Date: Dec. 5, 2023
ISBN: 9781962082204
Page Count: 94
Publisher: Shanti Arts LLC
Review Posted Online: Jan. 11, 2024
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Worthwhile reference stuffed with facts and illustrations.
A compendium of charts, time lines, lists and illustrations to accompany study of the Bible.
This visually appealing resource provides a wide array of illustrative and textually concise references, beginning with three sets of charts covering the Bible as a whole, the Old Testament and the New Testament. These charts cover such topics as biblical weights and measures, feasts and holidays and the 12 disciples. Most of the charts use a variety of illustrative techniques to convey lessons and provide visual interest. A worthwhile example is “How We Got the Bible,” which provides a time line of translation history, comparisons of canons among faiths and portraits of important figures in biblical translation, such as Jerome and John Wycliffe. The book then presents a section of maps, followed by diagrams to conceptualize such structures as Noah’s Ark and Solomon’s Temple. Finally, a section on Christianity, cults and other religions describes key aspects of history and doctrine for certain Christian sects and other faith traditions. Overall, the authors take a traditionalist, conservative approach. For instance, they list Moses as the author of the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Hebrew Bible) without making mention of claims to the contrary. When comparing various Christian sects and world religions, the emphasis is on doctrine and orthodox theology. Some chapters, however, may not completely align with the needs of Catholic and Orthodox churches. But the authors’ leanings are muted enough and do not detract from the work’s usefulness. As a resource, it’s well organized, inviting and visually stimulating. Even the most seasoned reader will learn something while browsing.
Worthwhile reference stuffed with facts and illustrations.Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2005
ISBN: 978-1-5963-6022-8
Page Count: -
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 23, 2010
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A conversational, pleasurable look into McConaughey’s life and thought.
All right, all right, all right: The affable, laconic actor delivers a combination of memoir and self-help book.
“This is an approach book,” writes McConaughey, adding that it contains “philosophies that can be objectively understood, and if you choose, subjectively adopted, by either changing your reality, or changing how you see it. This is a playbook, based on adventures in my life.” Some of those philosophies come in the form of apothegms: “When you can design your own weather, blow in the breeze”; “Simplify, focus, conserve to liberate.” Others come in the form of sometimes rambling stories that never take the shortest route from point A to point B, as when he recounts a dream-spurred, challenging visit to the Malian musician Ali Farka Touré, who offered a significant lesson in how disagreement can be expressed politely and without rancor. Fans of McConaughey will enjoy his memories—which line up squarely with other accounts in Melissa Maerz’s recent oral history, Alright, Alright, Alright—of his debut in Richard Linklater’s Dazed and Confused, to which he contributed not just that signature phrase, but also a kind of too-cool-for-school hipness that dissolves a bit upon realizing that he’s an older guy on the prowl for teenage girls. McConaughey’s prep to settle into the role of Wooderson involved inhabiting the mind of a dude who digs cars, rock ’n’ roll, and “chicks,” and he ran with it, reminding readers that the film originally had only three scripted scenes for his character. The lesson: “Do one thing well, then another. Once, then once more.” It’s clear that the author is a thoughtful man, even an intellectual of sorts, though without the earnestness of Ethan Hawke or James Franco. Though some of the sentiments are greeting card–ish, this book is entertaining and full of good lessons.
A conversational, pleasurable look into McConaughey’s life and thought.Pub Date: Oct. 20, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-593-13913-4
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: Oct. 27, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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