Blessed Arrangement

The first section of Larry Levys fine fourth collection of poems powerfully addresses our current political reality expressing empathy for migrant children and other victims while attacking the callous hypocrisy of some of our leaders. Further poems evoke the complex but mostly loving world of clearly seen individuals-a Zapotecan a wizardly old cook an exchange student Levys own immigrant ancestors-as well as two mischievous cats and sundry other precisely rendered animals. Overall these poems using rhyming forms with skill and grace show a wide-ranging intelligence looking perceptively at everything from childhood to old age and much of the life in between. Readers will want to enter and savor this wholly inviting book.-Skip Renker author of Bearing the Cast A longtime reader and admirer of Larry Levys poetry Im so very taken with this new collection. In past poems there were hints of the political hints of a way to look at the world. Let them see it subtly through a veil Levy seemed to say. Now especially in the poems of the first section This is Our Street. And Youre Not Us Levy pulls off the veil. Pulls off the gloves. Listen now these poems say. Im going to say it plain. I dont write this lightly when I say these are poems for our times.-Jeff Vande Zande author of The Neighborhood DivisionLarry Levys poetry has always been deeply spiritual and in this new collection he navigates the physical moral and political elements of our lives on our spinning stone. The echoes of the Holocaust serve as subtle reminders of the fractured time we now live in and push us to examine our own beliefs actions and leaders. The realization that we are purposely being divided into Takers Voting Cheats Women Blacks Immigrants calls on us to question our fractious divisions and too-often convenient understanding of each other that leave us Lost boys and girls / at a loss for words. In these poems the world is traveled from Europe to Mexico to the familiar terrain of Michigan as well as past and present as lessons are gleaned from the ball diamonds of youth a beloved family cat and personal histories. In the end Levys poems remind us of one over-riding truth: You must survive.-John Jeffire author of Motown BurningReading Larry Levys poems I feel like Im listening to my best friend telling me whats on his mind. Whether hes writing about the struggles of his ancestors when they came to this country or the current political situation or the death of his pet cat Larry is always there in his words telling me what has to be told in language that is crisp and honest and moving. I cant think of a better poet to listen to. -John Guzlowski author of Echoes of Tattered Tongues