Everything Becomes a Poem
James Gaynor's poems are expansive, dark, funny, full of the joy of living. His grim acknowledgements of tragic truths are never brooding, while the more seemingly lighthearted verses are deep and honest and real. We are fortunate indeed that, in Gaynor's hands, "Everything Becomes a Poem."
Editorial Reviews
"Gaynor writes as wry and grateful survivor,the appreciation for what's been lost never clouding his love for what remains. Read carefully, and you will discern life lessons woven through Gaynor's poetry, suggestions on how to inhabit the world without doing too much damage to oneself and others, and what it might mean to live along and happy life in our addled 21st Century. And always, throughout these poems, there are eruptions of laughter in the dark. ("After considerable consultation/We have decided/The cat/Will miss you the most." ) With this stunning volume,we find ourselves in the hands of a supremely accomplished poet."
--PeterM. Stevenson, Journalist, Critic. Stevenson has worked as an editor at Men's Journal, The New Republic, The New York Observer, and Conde Nast Traveler. A noted journalist and critic, his work appears in many national publications, including The New Yorker, Esquire, and The New York Times.
"Gaynor's poems are expansive, dark, funny, full of the joy of living. His grim acknowledgements of tragic truths are never brooding,while the more seemingly lighthearted verses are deep and honest and real. We are fortunate indeed that, in Gaynor's hands, 'Everything Becomes a Poem."
--John S. Hall, Lyricist / Vocalist, King Missile; Author, Daily Negations
"Gaynor's extraordinary collection is amazingly accessible, yet subtle, and as concise as haiku. His themes are the ordinary tragedies and triumphs of everyday life. So much is implied, so powerfully, and in fewer words than a prose writer would think possible. Each poem is, in effect, a work off lash fiction, or more accurately flash truth. By making 'everything' become a poem, Gaynor changes the way we see the mundane,revealing the fleeting beauty of each moment, the worth of every being, and the sacred surrounding us."
--Marion Stein, Author, Loisaida - A New York Story
"Reading Gaynor's poetry is like catching up with an old friend, one who's known you a long time and loves you for all your finer points and flaws. There are confessions and bits of gossip and inside jokes,all of it executed with restraint and a touch of whimsy. "
--Dan Curley, Associate Professor of Classics, Skidmore College
"The beautiful thing about Gaynor's poems is the surprise that is waiting around every corner. The first few lines can start a lump forming in your throat, then the last line provokes a laugh escaping without warning.These poems are the kind that you find yourself thinking of, enough to bring you back to them after being out and about and noticing something,some person, some piece of litter, or shadow hitting a wall that makes you think I wonder what James Gaynor would make of that..."
--Co-producer and Pilgrim, Walking the Camino: Six Ways to Santiago Author of Everyday Camino with Annie Annie O'Neil, Director and Producer, Phil's Camino
Editorial Reviews
"Gaynor writes as wry and grateful survivor,the appreciation for what's been lost never clouding his love for what remains. Read carefully, and you will discern life lessons woven through Gaynor's poetry, suggestions on how to inhabit the world without doing too much damage to oneself and others, and what it might mean to live along and happy life in our addled 21st Century. And always, throughout these poems, there are eruptions of laughter in the dark. ("After considerable consultation/We have decided/The cat/Will miss you the most." ) With this stunning volume,we find ourselves in the hands of a supremely accomplished poet."
--PeterM. Stevenson, Journalist, Critic. Stevenson has worked as an editor at Men's Journal, The New Republic, The New York Observer, and Conde Nast Traveler. A noted journalist and critic, his work appears in many national publications, including The New Yorker, Esquire, and The New York Times.
"Gaynor's poems are expansive, dark, funny, full of the joy of living. His grim acknowledgements of tragic truths are never brooding,while the more seemingly lighthearted verses are deep and honest and real. We are fortunate indeed that, in Gaynor's hands, 'Everything Becomes a Poem."
--John S. Hall, Lyricist / Vocalist, King Missile; Author, Daily Negations
"Gaynor's extraordinary collection is amazingly accessible, yet subtle, and as concise as haiku. His themes are the ordinary tragedies and triumphs of everyday life. So much is implied, so powerfully, and in fewer words than a prose writer would think possible. Each poem is, in effect, a work off lash fiction, or more accurately flash truth. By making 'everything' become a poem, Gaynor changes the way we see the mundane,revealing the fleeting beauty of each moment, the worth of every being, and the sacred surrounding us."
--Marion Stein, Author, Loisaida - A New York Story
"Reading Gaynor's poetry is like catching up with an old friend, one who's known you a long time and loves you for all your finer points and flaws. There are confessions and bits of gossip and inside jokes,all of it executed with restraint and a touch of whimsy. "
--Dan Curley, Associate Professor of Classics, Skidmore College
"The beautiful thing about Gaynor's poems is the surprise that is waiting around every corner. The first few lines can start a lump forming in your throat, then the last line provokes a laugh escaping without warning.These poems are the kind that you find yourself thinking of, enough to bring you back to them after being out and about and noticing something,some person, some piece of litter, or shadow hitting a wall that makes you think I wonder what James Gaynor would make of that..."
--Co-producer and Pilgrim, Walking the Camino: Six Ways to Santiago Author of Everyday Camino with Annie Annie O'Neil, Director and Producer, Phil's Camino
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James with Moses for whom "Everything Becomes a Poem" is dedicated.
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