The Collected Poems of Theodore Roethke
We first discovered this lovely book decades ago (we were very young) and it has become a dog-eared favorite. We love the simple wisdom it lends about complex subjects. A perfect morning read.
View ArticleSelected Poems of Su Tung-P’o
amazon.com We first became interested in Su Tung-P’o when we were thinking about what it means to be broke. Being broke is, in fact, an age-old dilemma which forces one to be creative to survive. The...
View ArticlePablo Neruda: All the Odes
amazon.com We’re entranced by Pablo Neruda’s life and have written about his homes, his personal life, and his poetry. His odes are tiny little dedications to the world and objects around him,...
View ArticleMagnetic Poetry Word Magnets
amazon.com Ever since we saw artist Rotten Apple’s place Magnetic Poetry around urban landscapes — including the subway for people to make poetry while they wait —we’ve seen Magnetic Poetry Kits as...
View ArticleJust Kids
amazon.com We love this meeting of two legendary minds, rock-and-roller Patti Smith and friend/photographer Robert Mapplethorpe, and the journey we follow as Smith discovers her artistic voice. We...
View ArticleAnam Cara: A Book of Celtic Wisdom
Amazon.com After we quoted John O’Donahue’s Anam Cara in a post, we got a number of Comments from readers telling us how much the book means to them. From Cara de Silva: “I love John O’Donohue and...
View ArticleA Field Guide to Getting Lost
amazon.com A sort of anecdotal historian who is simultaneously enamored of the aesthetic experiences of walking, photographing, and living, Rebecca Solnit has written a book that is part memoir, part...
View ArticleA Natural History of the Senses
Diane Ackerman’s poetic/scientific exploration of the human condition through the portals through which we experience is a captivating adventure. Grazing on kissing, tattooing, sniffing, and music,...
View ArticleThe Paper Garden: An Artist Begins Her Life’s Work at 72
Molly Peacock’s The Paper Garden is a wonderful delving into the life of an unusual 18th century artist, Mary Delany. She made over 1000 beautiful botanical collages which use nothing but paper and a...
View ArticleThe Miracle of Mindfulness: An Introduction to the Practice of Meditation
amazon.com Not being the best of meditators, we rely on Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh to gently guide us in mindfulness practice, which, he points out, you can do anywhere, anytime: washing the dishes,...
View ArticleThe Sun My Heart
amazon.com Thich Nhat Hanh’s entreaty for us to examine and acknowledge the tiny miracles around us keeps us going every day. Whether or not we notice them, Hanh explains, these miracles exist, all...
View ArticleZen Art of Meditation
This slim, unassuming volume is a beloved part of our “morning library”, providing a haiku and image to shift our view. We are constantly surprised by it. From Amazon.com: This book is about emptiness...
View ArticleThe Enlightened Heart: An Anthology of Sacred Poetry
amazon.com This book is sacred in an unusual way––rather than collecting only religious poetry as the title may suggest, editor Stephen Mitchell has instead curated what he calls “poems of...
View ArticleThe Essential Haiku: Versions of Basho, Buson, & Issa
Amazon.com We love the simplicity and immediacy of these little poems; they remind us vividly of singular moments in our own lives—a friend’s garden awash in color, the smell of summer, an afternoon...
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