These 29 poems from the duo behind Red Sings from Treetops touch upon life's heartaches and triumphs, quandaries and epiphanies.
Divided into four sections ("Chants and Charms," "Spells and Invocations," "Laments and Remembrances" and "Praise Songs and Blessings"), the collection begins with "Chant to Repair a Friendship," with a haunting refrain: "Come, friend, forgive the past;/ I was wrong and I am grieving." The poem hinges on a phrase at its center: "Anger's brief, but love is vast." Pamela Zagarenski's reassuring illustration depicts one friend precariously balanced upon a wheel as the other reaches out a steadying hand. "Time Spells" picks up the theme again, as Joyce Sidman exposes time's schizophrenic characteristics--pining for acceleration ("God of Time,/ bring forth all galloping things") and then to brake and "stretch like a sleepy dog" when in the company of friends. As she offers advice on "How to Find a Poem" ("Wake with a dream-filled head/.../ stand waiting/ on delicate hooves"), Zagarenski softly blends real and surreal earthtoned images of an elusive deer and its observer. Later in the volume, "Song in a Strange Land" similarly evokes a dreamlike quality ("I awaken in a village/ on a mountain/ far from anything/ I have ever known") as the speaker in the illustration rides on the red comb of a rooster in stark contrast to a jet-black harbor.
The volume makes an ideal companion for the transition into adulthood, when young people may experience the paradox of a connection to their inner convictions as well as an alienation from their physical metamorphosis. --Jennifer M. Brown, children's editor, Shelf Awareness