Owning The Not So Distant World

Grace Cavalieri, Maryland's 10th Poet Laureate, has a new collection of poetry, her 30th.  Published by Blue Light Press, the cover art is one of Cavalieri's prize winning acrylic paintings, Cosmos. Not only can she wield a paintbrush on canvas, she handles language with the same confidence and energy. Cavalieri knows and applies the power that is poetry, and in this most recent collection, nothing is held back. The back cover's poem, "Reversal" reminds us that poetry "... can do whatever it wants - "  and if we let the poem have its head, " it will "make this the happiest day of our lives."   Who could ask for more?!

But there is more. Cavalieri knows the world is not all sweetness and light. In her poem "Your Awe Is Not My Awe" the words sizzle "My awe is a sacred space... / not rockets of light... How much has been lost:... /history shattered into pieces that will not fit together."   So deep is the sadness and the frustration.

There is wisdom in her clear, strong poems. The concluding stanza of "The Longest Story In the World" wipes away self-delusion with "... Make the world less lonely / For this is the heart's motion / And our deeds are all we can own..." I can't imagine a finer book to read in a shady grove on a summer's day or curled up before the fire on a winter's eve.  Get your own copy of the 50 poems in OWNING THE NOT SO DISTANT WORLD. 

Janice F. Booth is a writer and teacher living near the Chesapeake Bay. Her long-running garden column and published poems reflect Jan’s reverence for Nature in her varied guises. Jan’s poetry is included in The Song In the Room: Six Women Poets, The Antioch Poetry Retreat: a Gathering of Poets, The Road Beneath or Feet and periodicals, including S/He Speaks and Avocet. As a journalist she authored Crofton: Images of America.  Janice taught English courses at high school and college levels.

© 2024, Janice F. Booth