Word of mouth; poems featured on NPR's All Things Considered

Kliatt, July, 2003 by Sally M. Tibbetts

BOWMAN, Caterine, ed. Word of mouth; poems featured on NPR's All Things Considered. Random House, Vintage. 183p. c2003. 0-375-71315-8. $12.00.

SA

Bowman begins this treasure of a poetry book by discussing the purpose of her collection and something of its background. Her program on NPR featuring poetry readings from a range of writers has become, to her amazement and delight, very popular. Her purpose in putting the program together was to give "accessibility" to poetry and let the world know "That poetry doesn't have to wear priestly robes, speak in puzzles, smell like a rare and perfect rose, and float in the realm of ideas instead of walking firmly on the ground." The poems in this book are taken from her radio interviews and from readings the poets have given.

Bowman gives each author a brief, concise introduction. The poets range from Nobel Laureate Czeslaw Milosz to Carrie Allen McCray, who was 73 when she began her career as a poet. There are some better-known poets such as Lucille Clifton and Naomi Shihab Nye, but all the poets are accomplished and offer here a diverse tapestry of work.

Selections reflect a wide range of subjects: "work, play, music, love, lovemaking, beginnings, endings, family, eating, drinking, gardening, shopping, spirituality, sports, legacies, naming, aging, politics, art, culture, city life, country life, travel, history." Charles Harper Webb writes about the deep dissatisfactions most people find in their lives in his poem called "Buyer's Remorse": "The ink's still wet on our tickets to France and we wish we'd picked Japan... Denise Duhamel writes about one of the icons of our times in her "Barbie" poems, "She couldn't make a peace sign with her stuck-together fingers. She felt a little like Sandra Dee at a Janis Joplin concert." There are tender offerings from Phillip Booth in such poems as "Hope" or "First Lesson," and then funky works from Kevin Young with his "Eddie Priest's Barbershop & Notary."

There's certainly nothing like being able to listen to poets read their own works, but it is always gratifying to read and savor the words from such skilled writers. This is a wonderful collection that can be enjoyed in high school and public libraries alike. Let's hope that there will be a volume two in the near future. Sally M. Tibbetts, LRC, Maine H.S., Des Plaines, IL