This April Day

I first tracked this book down because it contains a poem that I first came across in Poetry magazine which has become one of my favorite poems. The poem is called, "The Foolishness of God Is Wiser Than Men." In it, Mitcham takes on "God's editors [who] erased what they thought not right:/...how Jesus laughed." He gives us wonderful images of a laughing Christ who is human but no less divine for sharing this most human of reactions. Wonderful! It is impossible to find a collection of poems where all the poetry is of the highest quality but Mr. Mitcham comes pretty close. I found many of these poems to be very well done; in particular, "History of Rain," "Comedian," "The Funerals of Strangers," "Together" and "Calvin's Wife." I also very much enjoyed another poem on the theme of laughter called (surprise) "Laughter." In this poem we are given accounts of laughter in the face of horror and tragedy which are very moving, especially in the first three sections. There are a number of recurring themes in these poems: the loss of his father, the placement of his mother in a nursing home and the solaces of religion. Ultimately, however, there is a joy and gentleness that is an undercurrent to these poems that brings you back to them despite the presence of loss and death. This is a very fine collection.