Alive in This World

<p>Whether on a crowded trolley in a little neighborhood park with its towering sycamores at a community garden or around neglected public spaces there is life abundant-full of hope delight and awe on the one hand heartache and loss on the other.</p><p> </p><p>Mostly composed in a diverse urban neighborhood of Philadelphia this collection of poetry Alive in This World is organized into three sections. The first <em>A Home with the Trees</em> explores a relationship with the trees as the poet gets to know them-in wonder growing understanding grief and gratitude. In <em>Commuter Encounters</em> intimate contact with strangers on a trolley commute and time spent on city bus and regional rail routes invites reflection on humanity connection and justice. In the final section <em>A Home with the Earth</em> the soil is a medium for meditations on nourishment and how loving small city green spaces can provide big gifts.</p><p> </p><p>How do we make meaning of what we see? How can it illuminate our understanding-of ourselves and of the world we inhabit together? How does it change us? These closely-observed and big-hearted poems are all about relationship providing not only a picture or a story but a window to new possibilities.</p><p> </p><p>The knowledge that there may be a poem awaiting us anywhere is a call to pay closer attention to life to not let the world go by unnoticed. Bringing a clear eye an open heart and a quest for intimacy with a few small city blocks and life on a public commute can call us into engagement with the biggest issues of our times. It may even help with gaining courage and perspective for the road ahead.</p><p> </p>