A decent anthology with work by familiar poets (dead or alive) and many new-to-me poets. Still, the book and cover, didn't do much for me..but it ld be something YOU might like it...(Maybe I'm spending too much time reading Ukraine Lit)...

(*OK, it also bugged me that the editor included at least three of his own poems) ( )

There are certain times that different versions of a book don’t work well. This is a book that does not work well as an e-book. It’s hard to follow and you lose a lot by not having the book in your hands. I tried and could not finish the book. I would highly recommend that if you want to, look at this anthology and read it to get a physical copy.

Nikita Gill writes in the forward of The Wonder of Small Things that “Every poem in this collection is filled with such awe and reminds us of the duty of the poet: to collect that awe and write it down.”

James Crews has collected poetry that will remind readers to wonder at this world, to be alive to it, and allow its transforming power to change us.

Each section concludes with a Reflective Pause in which Crews considers a poem’s message, followed by Invitation for Writing and Reflection with a writing prompt inspired by the poem.

Themes of the Reflective Pauses include Let Wonder Guide You, A Time for Everything, Choosing Peace, The Place of Attention, The Awe of Aliveness, Nothing for Granted, The Gift of Stillness, Winks of Calm, and Worlds of Wonder.

The poems are not only presented thematically in groups, but are so perfectly curated as to flow one to the next. The effect was to draw me into the next poem. All the poems in a section work together to produce a deeper emotional connection.

There is a wonderful mix of poets, the well-known next to the emerging. You will find Wendell Berry’s beloved The Peace of Wild Things and Jo Harjo’s Redbird Love, Jane Kenyon’s In Several Colors and Rita Dove’s Horse and Tree. I discovered many poets I was unfamiliar with and plan to read more by them.

I found myself so moved at times, I was inspired to jot down my own lines.

I loved the poems about the commonplace, like “My Mother’s Colander” by Dorianne Laux describing the many ways the old tin colander was put to use, or Penny Harter’s “Just Grapefruit,” describing the preparation of a grapefruit to eat. We are reminded to take enjoyment in every part of life.

I highlighted so many lines.

What is the way to pay tribute to glory?
The aspen knows: applaud with every breeze.
Web by Marilyn McCabe

One of my favorite poets, Joseph Fasano, is included with his haunting poem “Letter” with its ending “change me, change me change me. All I want is to be more of what I am.”

And if it’s true that we are alone,
we are alone together,
the way blades of grass
are along, but exist as a field.
from Belonging by Rosemary Wahtola Trommer

Today
when the bigness of sky asks whoever

is standing beneath it are you ready
the gray trees drowsing and temporarily losing

the last of their burnt sienna leaves will say yes
and you will say yes and I will say yes too.
from Poem of Thanksgiving by Nathan Spoon

I have been reading books on some very somber subjects. These poems lifted my spirits at the end of the day.

Thanks to the publisher for a free book. ( )

So, to be clear, I'm in the middle of a reading slump and thinking of quitting blogging, but I never turn down the chance to read, review, and promote any anthology by James Crews.

(And it was possibly the thing to pull me out of the slump.)

I've read and adored The Path to Kindness and How to Love the World, and The Wonder of Small Things has become my favorite of the three. This collection focusing more on poems about nature is the first collection that has forced me to read and love nature poetry; I had just assumed in the past that it wasn't for me.

All three of James Crew's anthologies contain reflection exercises, and while those are interesting, my main aim has never been those when the man puts together a phenomenal anthology. Between William Sieghart and James Crews, I never run out of poems when I need them.

Thank you NetGalley and Storey Publishing for the chance to read and review this book! ( )