Small Wonders

<p class=ql-align-justify>With brevity and musicality the poems in <em>Small Wonders</em> make peace with the world. I recommend reading them through once and then rereading them often as they act as a form of meditation. James Keane expresses his vulnerability and love in poems dedicated to his wife and son and also to inhabitants of the larger world the victims of terrorist attacks and to George Floyd. About a grandfather's company he writes: we managed our way / together down the long slow streets / of your frailty. Then gradually very / gradually back the way we came. In other poems he deftly observes the tension of a couple hiking to a waterfall: we groped // until there was / nothing / to say nothing / to do but // listen / to the water. At seeing a child's coffin he asks of the grieving mother: Did you ever / know laughter the respite / it can bring; smile with patience / at children or anyone / imploring you to / sing. He ends the collection with a prayer for understanding through / all the beautiful shades / of our humanity / and the passion / we all share / for living. There is a reverence to these poems that presents them as small wonders but they resonate in very ample ways.</p><p class=ql-align-justify>-<strong>Ellen Foos</strong> author of <em>The Remaining Ingredients</em></p><p class=ql-align-justify><br></p><p class=ql-align-justify>Like James Keane's powerful and touching debut collection <em>What Comes Next</em> his new volume <em>Small Wonders</em> upholds language's power to move intensely and capture experience precisely. Deeply grounded in the everyday these engaging and resonant poems reveal the connections between the world and the other-worldly with precision and heart. In When I Was Very Very Young a patient grandfather manages to keep up with a babbling bouncing child who observes many years later that <em>never once / did you disrupt the joy / propelling me</em>. Pieces I admire particularly Thank You for Being My Son Facebook Photo and A Woman's Face are exquisite examples of Jim's recurring themes of gratitude and the capacity to love and show us how reverence and humor can grow from a common source. The book you hold in your hands contains in abundance the surprising and often uplifting words of a passionate and insightful storyteller.</p><p class=ql-align-justify>-<strong>Catherine Doty</strong> author of <em>Wonderama</em> and <em>Momentum</em></p><p><br></p><p><br></p>