Customer Reviews

A Dreamer's Guide To Cities and Streams

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Poetry both versatile and accessible as Joan Gelfand's is a pleasure for the reader. 'A Dreamer's Guide to Cities and Streams' is like going on safari with a discoverer and seeing a multitude of wondrous sights, images and terrain.

A Dreamer's Guide to Cities and Streams still has me in a dreamy mood. My favorite poems in the collection were "I've Started Listening to Barbara Streisand, Again," "Requiem for a Dying World," "Dichotomy Sonnet," "Passover," "New York Park," "Daddy-O," "Recipe for Diana," and "Meditation on the Seventh." I love the sense of humor that shines through all that beauty.

Joan Gelfand inspires you to dig into all your memories, hopes, all dreams--whether they are rooted in the city or the countryside. After reading each poem, you want to curl on the coach and talk with Joan about life and art. Most of all, she makes you think and unlock your imagination. Only the good artists in the world can make this happen. Looking forward to the next oeuvre.

Sometimes tradition is where the best stuff lies. "A Dreamer's Guide to Cities and Streams" is the second collection of poetry from Joan Gelfand. Her work focuses on the natural word, its innate glory, and its impact on humanity, "A Dreamer's Guide to Cities and Streams" is original and fresh, while staying true to the classics. "Painting Haiku": Blue horizon defined/Horizon alone - nothing/Horizon sky - the world.

Joan Gelfand is a poet fully awake to the power of words. She creates compelling landscapes of her experiences living in San Francisco, growing up in New York, and of her travels in the world. And whether her rich and evocative poems are grounded in an urban setting or the natural world, you come to realize her outer world mirrors our inner world of thoughts and feelings, intuition and intellect.

Joan's poems beg to be read aloud, as her words have a lovely mouth-feel to them, almost a physical texture, that is part of the rich sensory experience she has crafted for us. This is no accident, just as her mastery of all the various poetic forms is no accident. Clearly, Joan knows what she's doing and enjoys doing it -- and we're the better for it.

While Joan Gelfand's poetry may take us through cities and streams, in a greater sense it guides us into the dreams embedded deep in our souls, delving into the wonderment, the anxieties, the mysteries and the magic of life. Haven't found a better book of poems in decades.

A poet can channel us between the worlds. Joan Gelfand is a rare poet who does just that. From the beauty of the natural world to cruel inhumane war, the poems weave a transcendent tapestry. I read all the "Mountain, Flower, Spring " poems to my 9 year old grand-daughter who sat still in a mesmerized state.

Joan Gelfand's poetry takes you somewhere. It's snappy wool-gathering, urgent prophecy. You catch your breath. You sigh. Tantalized by serious play. Your heart is glad to break a little. And always her words carry you beyond words. Read and you will see.

Each poem in this book is a little work of art: Gelfand has choreographed the poem's story, shaped the broad imagery, crafted the words, and developed meaning all to immerse the reader for a moment in a full experience. Like the book's title that conveys the musty richness of ecological areas within an urban context - the best of both worlds - you can smell the earth as you walk.