Life Poetry

Life, love, and work intertwine with nature and a unique series of poems, in Tom's revised edition of his successful book of poetry. No matter what the day-to-day challenges are, as life unfolds, Tom shows us - through his poetry - that life is about enjoying what we can in every single moment.

A Life In Rhyme - Life's Observations is the fourth book in a collection of rhyming story poems I've written over a period of years. None of them were initially written for book publication, but I have received such encouragement from friends and family about them, I've decided to compile the verses into four different titles. Book 4 introduces you to story poems I've written about events in my life and random observations, together with some of the rhyming verse included in the other books I've written.

Life Lyrics are insightful reflections that leave you with the sensation that Melody has reached into your heart, held your feelings in her hands, and then lets her pen tell your story, and often hers.

From brave and bold to creative and clever, Emily Winfield Martin's rhythmic rhyme expresses all the loving things that parents think of when they look at their children.

The poetry in Love Life Loss and a little bit of hope invites non-Indigenous people to see through the eyes of Indigenous people with topics of peace and humanity, as well as grief, trauma, and a little bit of hope. Chief Stacey Laforme breathes life into every poem and story he shares, drawing from his own experiences. Rich with the essence of his soul, the poems in this book capture the moments and emotions that have shaped his life. His desire is for listener to not just listen, but to truly feel the humour and pain intertwined in these poems.

When twelve-year-old Estie is expelled from school, she's sent to stay with her aunt in Scotland over the summer. Even though Estie knows what she did was right. Even though nobody, not even her mum, asked to hear her side of the story. Estie's determined to keep her barriers up and stick to herself until the holidays are over. But when she comes across an intricately folded paper bird with a secret message written inside - a message from someone desperate to tell their own unbelieved story - a chord is struck, and Estie can't help but follow the clues to the next piece of artwork.

An acclaimed poet deepens her exploration of the domestic in a new collection of playful and wise poems The poems in Carrie Fountain’s third collection, The Life, exist somewhere, as Rilke says, between “our daily life” and “the great work” - an interstitial space where sidelong glances live alongside shouts to heaven. In elegant yet colloquial language, Fountain observes her children dressing themselves in fledgling layers of personhood, creating their own private worlds and personalities, and makes room for genuine marvels amid routine.

Rumi was an ancient teacher, poet, and mystic who had his fair share of tough times. Through the ups and downs, he wrote poetry that, to this day, moves the soul. We all know it's easy to get stuck in places we don't want to be: a dead end job, an unhappy marriage, a toxic family or friendship. Your goal is not to transform all of those areas at once. Your mission is to focus on transforming yourself and, as a result, your relationship to everything else in your life will change.

Award-winning poet and literacy champion Doug Snelson recently published his new book Laughter Includes the Word: Revealed, A Life of Poetry, a selection of verses, all previously unpublished, reflecting Doug’s unique poetic perspective on the special and everyday events of his life. 

Book 3 introduces you to friends and acquaintances and the story poems I've written for them for special events in their lives. I've changed the names of all the recipients, but not the actual poems I wrote for them.

Garvey's father has always wanted Garvey to be athletic, but Garvey is interested in astronomy, science fiction, reading - anything but sports. Feeling like a failure, he comforts himself with food. Garvey is kind, funny, smart, a loyal friend, and he is also overweight, teased by bullies, and lonely. When his only friend encourages him to join the school chorus, Garvey's life changes. The chorus finds a new soloist in Garvey, and through chorus Garvey finds a way to accept himself and a way to finally reach his distant father.

This is an account of a life lived online. Swiping for approval. Scrolling for gratification. Searching for connection. From the glow of a screen in the middle of the night, to the harsh glare of the hospital waiting room, Validate Me, is a raw and honest look at the highs and the lows of a digital life.

From his remarkable debut The Hawk in the Rain (1957) to his death in 1998, Ted Hughes was a colossal presence in the English literary landscape. He was also admired as a performer of his own work. Crow is one of his most significant collections, focusing on the central figure of the crow - predatory, mocking and indestructible. Crow is read here by the author in its entirety and with narrative links not included in the published text.

While the poetry you’ll listen to in Ron Wallace’s latest collection speaks of serious topics such as loss and the inescapable progression of time, you’ll also find plenty of humor in this book. His words bring to life his beloved Oklahoma prairies and skies, and his own family members. Wallace’s reflections on childhood, his parents, and, of course, baseball, are heartwarming.

I Had A Brother Once is a brilliant, genre-defying work - both memoir and epic poem - about the struggle for wisdom, grace, and ritual in the face of unspeakable loss. Adam is forced to re-remember a brother he thought he knew and to reckon with a ghost, confronting his unsettled family history, his distant relationship with tradition and faith, and his desperate need to understand an event that always slides just out of his grasp.

Journey to happiness through writing. This book of poetry chronicles my journey through the grief of the death of my soulmate to gratitude and then, surprisingly, happiness. As I wrote and sketched I realized that the words and images welled up from my soul, helped me understand my experience, and moved me forward into healing. There are five sections in the book: "The Power of Love", "Loss and Grief", "Healing Begins", "Gestation", and "Thriving'. I have included musings and prompts after each section to encourage listeners to write their own journey to happiness and even joy.

From Vanessa Brantley-Newton, the author of Grandma's Purse, comes a collection of poetry filled with engaging mini-stories about girls of all kinds: girls who feel happy, sad, scared, powerful; girls who love their bodies and girls who don't; country girls, city girls; girls who love their mother and girls who wish they had a father. This book invites listeners to find themselves and each other within.

The best-selling author of The Road Less Traveled and In Search of Stones presents a novel of the afterlife that teaches important spiritual lessons for his life. The soul of Daniel—the author-psychiatrist who narrates this story—awakens in the afterlife infused with fear and excitement. Two spiritual "greeters" guide him as he begins to negotiate the "corridors" of this new environment, encountering welcome and unwelcome spirits.

The breathtakingly beautiful story of one little girl and her five paper dolls. A string of paper dolls go on a fantastical adventure through the house and out into the garden. They soon escape the clutches of the toy dinosaur and the snapping jaws of the oven-glove crocodile, but then a very real pair of scissors threatens. A stunning, rhythmical story of childhood, memory and the power of imagination from the author of The Gruffalo.

Growing up with a mother suffering from paranoid schizophrenia and a mostly absent father, Nikki Grimes found herself terrorized by babysitters, shunted from foster family to foster family, and preyed upon by those she trusted. At the age of six, she poured her pain onto a piece of paper late one night - and discovered the magic and impact of writing. For many years, Nikki's notebooks were her most enduing companions. In this accessible and inspiring memoir, Nikki shows how the power of those words helped her conquer the hazards - ordinary and extraordinary - of her life.