Customer Reviews

Other Prohibited Items

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For those of us who have been reading and admiring Martha Greenwald's poems in journals, it is a delight to see her work in this collection. The title poem, "Other Prohibited Items" is not only playful and pictorial, it comes at a time that makes it poignant and contemporary. Case in point: My last flight took me through Logan Airport in Boston where an elderly Indian lady in traditional dress was going through an extensive patdown by a beefy female TSA security guard. Searching through layers of sari fabric yielded the prize - a jar of prohibited peanut butter. Greenwald's wonderful commentary on the necessary, yet the absurd, reminds us that witches do "lurk in these woods."

I've been following Martha Greenwald's poems in journals and am amazed -- publishers, hang your heads in shame -- that it has taken this long for one of her collections to appear in print. She's easily one of the most gifted poets in America. I can't think of anyone who even comes close. Her poems have a wonderfully light, deft, whimsical quality to them. These are wise and insightful glimpses into the everyday, and the everyday was never more enchanting. Yes, there is yet hope for the written word, and it can be found in this collection in abundance. Bravo!