Barbara Kingsolver

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From High Tide in Tucson

Gary Larson

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From Unnatural Selections

Georgia O'Keeffe

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Evening Star, No. III

From American Modern

Aristotle

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From Making Art a Practice

Charles Sheeler

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Bucks County Barn

From American Modern

Danny Shanahan

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From The New Yorker, March 3 2014

Brian Doyle

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From The Sun, March 2014

Zachary Kanin

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From The New Yorker, Feb 17 & 24, 2014

Jazmin Berakha

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From Mastering the Art of Embroidery

Edward Steed

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From The New Yorker, Feb 17 & 24, 2014

William Saroyan

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From The Sun, February 2014

Jack Ziegler

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From The New Yorker, Jan 13, 2014

Paul Rudnick

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From The New Yorker, Jan 6 2014

Betty Smith

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From A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

S.J. Peploe

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Still Life with Bananas

From S.J. Peploe

Kathleen Dean Moore

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From Wild Comfort: The Solace of Nature

Sebastian Meschenmoser

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From Waiting for Winter

Flannery O'Connor

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From Odd Type Writers

Tedd Arnold

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From Even More Parts

Samuel Palmer

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From Samuel Palmer

Gregory Christie

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From The Palm of My Heart

Patricia Lee Gauch

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From Tanya and Emily in a Dance for Two

Romare Bearden

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Morning of the Rooster

From Imaginary Animals

Kathleen Dean Moore

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From Wild Comfort: The Solace of Nature

Sebastian Meschenmoser

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From Waiting for Winter

Mary Jane LaVigne

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From The Sun, December 2013

Andy Riley

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From Dawn of the Bunny Suicides

Samuel Palmer

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At Hailsham Sussex: A Storm Approaching

From Samuel Palmer

In the Palm of Your Hand by Steve Kowitt

In the Palm of Your Hand isn’t just a handy poetry guide for poets, it also contains a hefty chunk of poems from both known and lesser-known poets.  Steve Kowit masterfully demonstrates that a combination of both writing and reading is essential for a strong and extensive writing path.

The book is organized quite well with simple but thorough explanations of various aspects and forms of poetry followed by thoughtful exercises.  Poems are peppered throughout the book, offering direction, insight and inspiration. 

I was quite impressed with the unique and multi-faceted exercises.  The exercises are little pokes that can wake up your imagination in a hurry.  Each exercise can take the writer on a variety of paths.  For instance, The Object Poem invites the writer to explore a beloved object, such as an heirloom, with each of their senses.  The poem can then take on a variety of approaches, each exposing the various quirks that shape the relationship between the writer and the object. 

Even if you are not a practicing poet, you will still find pleasure in this book.  Kowit has seamlessly stirred in a handful of poems that will delight and astonish the reader.  Tucked here and there you will find poems by acclaimed poets such as E.E. Cummings and Billy Collins and lesser-known poets such as Al Zolynas and Bill Knott.  It is as much an anthology as it is a guide, a splendid pairing for anyone who appreciates poetry. 

Cristian Campos

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From Lofts 2: Good Ideas 

Catherine Leblanc & Roland Garrigue

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From How to Mash Monsters

Gregory Christie

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From Richard Wright and the Library Card

Kathleen Dean Moore

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From Wild Comfort: The Solace of Nature

Sebastian Meschenmoser

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From Waiting for Winter

Zachary Kanin

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From The New Yorker, Nov 25 2013

Samuel Palmer

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In a Shoreham Garden

From Samuel Palmer, 1805-1881: Vision And Landscape

Sharon Beals

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House Finch Nest

From Nests

Charles Beck

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From Set the Ploughshare Deep: A Prairie Memoir

Joseph Raffael

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From Reflections Of Nature

James Prosek

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From Ocean Fishes

Kathleen Dean Moore

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From Wild Comfort: The Solace of Nature

Michael Kimmelman

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From Aimless Love

Edvard Munch

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Model By the Wicker Chair

From Munch

Frida Kahlo

I paint flowers so they will not die.

From Frida Kahlo: The Still Lifes

Sharon Beals

Common Rock Sparrow Nest

From Nests

Samuel Palmer

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From Samuel Palmer, 1805-1881: Vision And Landscape

Adam Van Doren

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Church of Santa Maria in Montesanto

From Adam Van Doren