The Daily Mirror

A magnificent collection of poems -- each one a shiny little jewel! The world comes alive through date references, NYC locales, and the fertile imagination of David Lehman! Who do YOU see in the Daily Mirror?

The Daily Mirror is David Lehman's writing at its finest. So many of the poems move as water falling and turning, fluid and full of surprise. His sense of the poetic line and his innovative use punctuation (almost none) blossom into moments that hold and propel the reader. He uses the timing of poetry in concord with the pace of a life moving and moved by people, images, and ideas. The world of particulars in his verse captures a time (our time) that the reader will want to return to again and again. These poems read like a treasure hunt that never ends. Everyone will have their favorite day in this book of daily poems.

I am not surprised that "The Daily Mirror" is fantastic. I have yet to meet a poem by David Lehman that I don't like. That being said, I'm still deeply pleased by how much I like this book. These poems are so full of joie de vivre that every time I read one I find myself smiling. The poems in "The Daily Mirror" are terrific in part because of their immediacy. As daily poems they comprise a kind of poetic journal; they are crafted out of the everyday. What's great is that they also transcend the mundane; they're made of ordinary stuff, but they're *poems*, with the heightened consciousness and precise language that poems require. These poems are witty and intelligent and creative and funny and sad. I recommend them highly.