Customer Reviews

Fathers: A Collection of Poems

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This collection of poems centers on the theme of Fatherhood. The husband and wife team of David and Judy Ray collect the work of over one- hundred poets. Among these poets are very well- known ones like Raymond Carver, Robert Bly, Gwendolyn Brooks, Rita Dove, Philip Levine, Maxine Kumin, Carolyn Kizer, Linda Pastan, Donald Justice, Charles Simic. The majority of the poems are by poets lesser known. Most of the poems are written by the poets about their fathers, but there are also poems in which the subject if the poet as father. Perhaps this is not my best day, and I am unfair but I did not find here the kind of poem I am looking for, the one which make me 'see' and ' feel' deeply. Page after page, competent poem after competent poem without my finding what I truly sought, the kind of inspiration and insight found in Kafka's 'Letter to his Father'.

This book of poems by Judy and David Ray is a joy! Each thoughtful and thought-provoking poem catches exactly the variety of tones and shades of color that echo the parent/child relationship. Some are light-hearted; some wrenching, but all have a beauty and strength that I enjoyed tremendously. The design of the book also makes it a pleasure to hold in one's hands. I carried it with me and read bits every now an then when I had a moment, over a period of a few weeks. Each time I opened it, I knew I would find a gem. Highly recommended.