Tulip Farms and Leper Colonies

Even when Charles Harper Webb's collection "Tulip Farms and Leper Colonies" confronts such difficult topics as death, aging parents and one's own mortality, it is difficult not to smile. Reading Webb's poems is like chatting with a good friend, one who always manages to see the good in life, one who knows just how to explain things. To call Webb accessible does not imply that what he does is simple. Too many poets rely on obfuscation to show that they are "serious" artists. Well, Webb is a serious artist. But he also tells it like it is (like a cleaned up Bukowski) in clear yet evocative language. Some of his poems are just outright funny such as "Yiddish for Goys" and "To Make My Countrymen Love Poetry." But even when funny, Webb speaks the truth.

I find myself smiling when I read the poems of Charles Harper Webb. He has the ability to energize his work with wit, irony and in his latest--Tulip Farms and Leper Colonies--nostalgia and serious observation. Like Billie Collins, Webb's work is readily accessible, however it is uniquely his own. I can't imagine Collins writing Feeling Sorry for Myself or, for that matter, Congratulations, Charles H.Webb,, You've Just Won Ten Million Dollars. Webb just gets better and better..

As if that really mattered. Read this book and all others by Webb. I think you'll find it stands up just fine with Collin's work, and, rather than being derivative, the two poets complement eachother.Enough!Get a life!