This is a very enjoyable and interesting book. It is a compilation of more than 400 poems that relate to men's issues, by many great poets of different nationalities (D H Lawrence, Etheridge Knight, Antonio Machado, Pablo Neruda, Emily Dickinson, and many more). The poems are arranged in sixteen sections, under titles such as Approach to Wildness, The Cultivated Heart, War, Language: Speaking Well and Speaking Out, The Second Layer: Anger, Hatred, Outrage, and Loving the World Anyway. Each section has a little introduction by one of the editors, discussing the theme of that section, and referring to the poems.
In the foreword, Bly, Meade and Hillman contrast the European-American culture with other cultures where people grow up steeped in poetry. They say we need more poetry, and this book seems to be a big step in that direction.
The book is ideal for people like me who are not poetry buffs: you can sample the work of different poets without going out and buying books by each of them. And there are poets in the book which I'm sure are hard to come by elsewhere. The book is not intended to be read by men alone: the editors 'would rejoice' if women read it.
I keep my copy by my bed, and dip into it from time to time. Each time I find something new, exciting and moving. I look forward to carrying on as the years go by, and getting to know it better. I thoroughly recommend it.
Stephen Banks
Copyright © Achilles Heel Collective
