Top of My Lungs

Natalie Goldberg is an artist, teacher and Poet. I knew about the first two from her books on writing and her book of paintings; However, I was thrilled to find that she is also a Poet. In my opinion, she is mostly a Poet. I read her novel, "Banana Rose," and a novelist she is not. However, her poetry sings. I say this because there are lines that can stand alone with their beauty: "aspen leaf quaking in the quiet of the world..." "the cold the lonely face of yearning/and spring broken through the bounty of wingless trees" "and the dark bounty of coal about to burst into diamonds" For these three lines alone (from 3 separate poems), this book is worth its weight in gold. The paintings in the book are pure New Mexico, and if you like Southwest art, you will enjoy them. They add to the beauty of the book. I would highly recommend this book to any poetry lover; and I'd highly recommend Natalie publish more poetry.