Enjoy these titles during National Poetry Month

April is National Poetry Month. If you have an appreciation for poetry and poets, then you might wish to check out some recent titles.

"The Art of Angling: Poems About Fishing" (Everyman's Library, 256 pages, $13.50): This lovely pocket sized volume could provide some pleasant company during those quiet interludes along lakes and rivers. I liked this poem:

The Salmon

“Looping back from his sally,

his wide world wandering done,

he feels the sweet, turning home.”

"Leonard Cohen: Words and Songs" (Everyman's Library, 245 pages, $13.50): This collection of poetry and song lyrics includes Cohen's most notable song composition, "Suzanne." Here's an excerpt:

“And Jesus was a sailor

when he walked upon the water

and he spent a long time watching

from his lonely wooden tower

and when he knew for certain

only drowning men could see him

he said All men will be sailors then

until the sea shall free them”

"Emily Dickinson: Letters" (Everyman's Library, 254 pages, $13.50): Emily Dickinson wrote mystical, mysterious poetry. She also composed some amazing, poetic letters. Here's an excerpt from one of them:

“Now, my love, robins for both of you, and when you and Vinnie sing at sunrise on the apple boughs, just cast your eye to my twig.

“Poor Plover”

Other new books you might want to consider include Garrison Keillor's "Good Poems, American Places" (Viking, 484 pages, $28.95) and a pair of anthologies for young readers: "100 Great Poems for Girls" (Grand Central, 188 pages, $12.99) and "100 Great Poems for Boys" (Grand Central, 234 pages, $12.99).

Vick Mickunas interviews authors every Friday at 1:30 p.m. and on Sundays at 11 a.m. on WYSO-FM (91.3). For more information, visit www.wyso.org/BookNook.html. Contact him at vick@vickmickunas.com.

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