Ten Poems to Last a Lifetime
*Starred Review* The outstanding achievement of popular inspirational writer Housden's Ten Poems books (see alsoTen Poems to Set You Free[BKL D 1 03] andTen Poems That Open Your Heart[BKL Ja 1 & 15 03]) is that they present poets and poetry that most of his usual audience will embrace but might never otherwise encounter. He finds a poem by former cook, maid, and gas station manager Dorianne Laux, "For the Sake of Strangers," about how the kindness of strangers keeps her from stepping off the edge of despair, and after it he tells his own story about a trek through the Sinai desert; so doing, he lifts the poem, already powerful on its own, to a higher level of meaning. He repeats the procedure with a rich variety of poets, from Keats to Naomi Shihab Nye, from sixth-century Buddhist poet Seng-Ts'an to Mary Oliver, offering enriching tastes of their best work and, with his subsequent impressions, priming his readers to plumb themselves for their own interpretations of the poems. What better method is there for sharing the love of an art form?Donna ChavezCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved