Today's book of poems: Excerpts From Improbable Books, Stephen Brockwell, unpublished, 2013.
I have a new phrase. Happy jealousy. And that is my description of Mr. Brockwell's latest. It always makes me happy to read good poems, if they are really good, happy jealousy. Brockwell is old school diligent and you can tell these poems have been heavily worked. Not because the poems show the work but simply because there is no other way to arrive with such fully formed gems. Here is the TITLE of one of the many fine poems: Excerpt from an Improbable Book: The Life-Saving Virtues of Virginia Tobacco. Imagine. This book is a hoot.