Summer Reading Pile – Poetry

As a follow-up to my Summer Reading Pile – Fiction post, here is my list of poetry-related work that I’ve been reading and some from my TBR pile. Again, not full on reviews, but some comments and suggestions.

I recently finished “In the Palm of Your Hand” by Steve Kowit. This is a great book on writing poetry. I think my favorite thing about this book is the section on writing experimental poetry. He gives several exercises for loosening up one’s writing style and I’m working on a couple of poems based on some of his exercises. I highly recommend this book.

I also recently read Jane H. Fitzgerald’s “Notes from the Undaunted” which is a book of poems and photographs lovingly encompassing Jane’s husband’s fight with cancer. Jane and I recently met at a poetry open mic and wound up exchanging copies of our books when she found out that I am a cancer survivor.

The other day, I had to wait for a tire to be delivered for some work to get done on my car. I took the time to stop at the nearby Books-a-Million, which is always bad for my budget and good for my bookshelf. Several volumes of poetry came home with me. The first one, “Take Me With You” by Andrea Gibson is a quick and glorious read. Andrea’s poems are short and insightful. The book has three sections, On Love, On the World, and On Becoming. There are many poems in this collection that made me go “oooooh” in recognition and appreciation.

Next up in my TBR is “Wild Embers” by Nikita Gill. Just starting this and already love it.

After that is the brilliantly titled “The Witch Doesn’t Burn in This One” by Amanda Lovelace. I’ve been meaning to pick up Amanda’s “The Princess Saves Herself in This One” but there was only one copy of the Witch left on the shelf and I couldn’t pass it by.

Also in the TBR is “Not Without Our Laughter,” an anthology from the Black Ladies Brunch Collective and “The Smallest Talk” by Michael McFee.

What are you reading? What would you recommend?