Rating: 5 stars
Headline: A beautifully diverse range of poems that will melt even the coldest of hearts
Review:
The Must-Be-Admired Things is an anthology of poems by Gary Miranda. A respected poet in his own right, Miranda’s works have featured in a plethora of publications, including the American Scholar, West Coast Review and The New Yorker. This singular title marks a compilation of four previously published books and is a reflection of years of hard work invested by Miranda into his craft. And it is those years of devotion that really shines through because of it.
Miranda’s diverse range of poems, spanning those of only a few stanzas to multiple pages long, draws extensively on lived experiences. Many of the selected poems are further heightened in their imagery by clever observations that reflect the natural world. A particular favourite, “Visibilities” (originally published in Grace Period) brings the two worlds of humanity and fellow creature together to tap into the innocence of humans as being the only species who admire the skill and form of the natural world. After reading this poem, birdwatching trip at the lake will never be the same again.
Every one of the poems in this book is perfectly balanced and weighted. The tempo and bounce to each fits perfectly with the topics at hand (with those tackling harder discussions being punchier and direct, versus those that read with the slow-tempo ease of something written in the back of a rowing boat on calm waters). While reading this title it is incredibly easy to randomly land on a page and find a poem to best suit a mood for any given day. I had begun jotting down some choice lines to drop into my everyday conversations when I had to stop, the pages were filling up that fast.
There are few people who I would dissuade from reading The Must-Be-Admired Things. When then poetry is as carefree as this, it is of no surprise Miranda has as many publishing credits as he does.
AEB Reviews
Links:
Reedsy Discovery Review: AEB Reviews – “The Must-Be-Admired Things: Collected Poems & Translations”
Purchase Link: “The Must-Be-Admired Things: Collected Poems & Translations” (Amazon)
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My Housemate's a Mermaid 