Windfall: New and Selected Poems

Readers of Maggie Anderson's work won't be surprised to note that the same grace with character and story flows throughout these selections. These poems are stately and intimate but with a kind of tender interior voice that maintains dignity and poise. Here is a voice that knows what it knows and tells it in a tone that makes readers want to bend closer to hear. For teachers, this is a good book to show how one can manage place and the way that someone who knows a place really well can move through the expository or posturing and into the kind of giving of a landscape to a reader like the best kind of gift--one that shows a sensitive knowing of what is needed and what will delight. A gorgeous offering--a true windfall.

Maggie Anderson's poems collected in Windfall are a masterful collection. I had the honor of hearing her read several of the poems, and her flat-toned, Appalachian voice really changes the more lyrical verse itself into something strikingly real. Ms. Anderson is amazing, and this collection will leave its impact.

In a couple of poems in Windfall: New and Selected Poems, Maggie Anderson uses the analogy of pearls to describe objects in those poems. As I thought about her collection of poetry, the analogy of gems and precious stones on a gold chain was the first thing that came to mind.The poems aren't like pearls because they vary in subject and style. The jewel that hangs prominently on the center of the chain is "Heart Fire". The poem, written in memory of a young man who took his life, vividly tells how everything Ms. Anderson sees reminds her of his physical attributes. It is an amethyst because of its richness in color. "Knife" and other poems in which Ms. Anderson discusses her fear of her father are marquise-cut diamonds that have points to pierce the bubble of a peaceful world. The Black Dog poems, especially "Black Dog Goes to Art Colony", are black onyx stones that counter the sharp diamonds with their smoothness and warmth. But "Literary" aptly described my overall feelings as I read this book. Ms Anderson said that when she read poems as a young woman, she struggled to understand what they meant. Some of the poems in Windfall seemed beyond my mental grasp because I don't have an academic background in poetry. Since I also am unfamiliar with many of the plants Ms. Anderson mentions in her nature poetry, I saw holes in the landscapes that she was painting with her words. Instead of giving up on understanding the poems that were perplexing, I reread many of them. I was glad I made that effort because I picked up on the links of the gold chain that thread through the gems and stones. Although a poem early in the book told of her father's death, the fear of him still lives inside of Ms. Anderson. Connected to that chain of thought are the poems that deal with her mother and other relatives., who are painted as reticent individuals. Blackberries stimulate all of Ms. Anderson's senses, and she is highly conscious of boundaries of every sort.Although I felt Windfall was sometimes challenging, I felt it was worth the struggle. "Heart Fire" is one of the best poems I've ever read, and I feel my knowledge of poetry has grown as a result of reading this book.