Liver

"Mom," my daughter with the fancy schmancy education says, "ya gotta read Charles Harper Webb's poetry. It's really great. Ya gotta read it." Pfffftttt. Young people. What do they know? Consider the music they listen to.... But... she is a poet herself, so I decide to order Liver. (Please--is it not an awful title for a collection of poems? But, dear reader, it fits....) And I love this collection. And Webb becomes one of my favorites. Why? It's poetry--how the heck should I know? Because he sees the brevity of this absurd whirl around the merry-go-round we call life and renders that ride in simple yet profound terms. Trust me; buy the book. And after you love it, order Tulip Farms and Leper Colonies. You'll love that one, too.

Charles Webb is a poet of surprising versatility who has the sense and timing of the comedy stand-up performer but, just when one accepts his comedic self, touches one's heart with his thoughtful,"Inheritance" and "Chapel in the Pines" and "Floating Loin," as well as the title poem "Liver."