Morning Earth: Field Notes in Poetry [Paperback]

John Caddy (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 2003

“Whenever you write,” says John Caddy, “you surprise yourself saying likable things that you did not plan.” In Morning Earth, Caddy -- winner of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Poetry for The Color of Mesabi Bones -- brilliantly advocates poetry as a physical act — a morning practice or devotion, a decision to record quickly the direct, momentary experience of each new day. Caddy shares a selection of his daily poems covering the seasons of the year and provides instruction for individuals, teachers, and students starting their own daily earth journals. The raw, unfiltered inscription of each day opens the senses, integrating the writer with the whole of life through brief but powerful individual moments, inspiration, and connectedness. Twenty-five black-and-white images illustrate the text.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"....These poems are beautiful in their simplicity..." -- Kliatt

"John Caddy is a true poet . . . alert and informed . . . observer of the natural world with a deft mastery of language." -- Green Teacher, January 1, 2004

Product Details

• Paperback: 100 pages
• Publisher: Milkweed Editions; 1 edition (June 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1571314164
• ISBN-13: 978-1571314161
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5.2 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,728,141 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Accessing the world in delightful bites, September 16, 2003

By 

Joel Barker (St Paul, MN United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Morning Earth: Field Notes in Poetry (Paperback)

John Caddy has created a series of windows to see the natural world. In clean, sparse language, he shows the reader another way to see the creatures, the plants, the weather that inhabits the earth with us. I like to read his poems to my grandchildren just to watch them think and smile.

In a way, one poem aday is like a vitamin for your soul.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars He says a word and something happens, September 4, 2003

By 

Charles M. Nobles (Tulsa, OK United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Morning Earth: Field Notes in Poetry (Paperback)

If I were assigned the task of placing this book on a bookstore or library shelf I am not sure where it would go. To be sure it would go with poetry but then it would also be at home in the writing, nature, and spirituality sections as well. To bad there are not sections for exquisite or beauty or love for this gem belongs in all of the above.
Caddy is a life-long teacher (40) years and has been a resident poet at over 700 schools and an instructor at Hamline University and the Univ. of Minnesota. He is a published author and poet and the winner of both the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Poetry and a Minnesota Book Award. He lives in Forest Lake, Minnesota, and this volume of poetry brings together his lifelong interests as poet, educator, and naturalist.
Using the four seasons as a platform Caddy conbines his love for poetry and the ecology into a daily diary of poetic meditations that connect the individual with nature. He then adds a brief commentary on what his poetic observations mean to him. They range from suggestions to writers in the eleven-line poem titled December 2: On the deck/catprints in the frost/wait for sun's eraser. His suggestion? Simple gifts suggest clear and simple expression. Write directly from experience and stay within the moment as you write. Basho, the haiku master, once asked, "Is there any good in saying everything?" to reading signs of life in his April 11th entry to the generosity of spirit and community in his May 3rd observation where he notes, after observing a ladybug on its quest for safety, "We are in life one community, each with the same problems: water, food, a place to be. Generosity of spirit enlarges us." He places the insect in the tulip bed for safety, a place to be.
Any number of poets have attempted to connect people with nature. None do it better than Caddy. His ability to observe nature and turn such observations into a daily poetic expression that combine the ecological significance of his observations with suggestions for writers and aspects of spirituality, love and beauty is a sheer delight to read. In reading his work I am reminded of the reply of a Middle School student when ask What do poets do with words? The answer: "They say a word and something happens."
When John Caddy says a word something truly happens. Highly recommended.