"How to Love the World" (Various Contributors, edited by James Crews)

TITLE: How to Love the World: Poems of Gratitude and Hope
AUTHOR: Various Contributors, edited by James Crews
PUBLISHER: North Adams, MA: Storey Publishing, 2021, (208 pages).

Can gratitude be taught? Well, we can teach children to say "Thank You" when young, but that is no guarantee they will learn to be thankful when they grow up. The key question in this book of poems is this: "Are you happy to be alive?" It is a given that in the West, the pursuit of happiness is not only deemed a necessary purpose, it is also considered a right in itself. With experience and thoughtful reflections, the contributors to this collection of poems help maneuver ourselves along the rivers of hope through the vessels of gratitude. The beauty of this is that these poems come from a diversity of people from all over the world. There are artists, farmers, engineers, professors, speakers, teachers, medical professionals, etc, all trying their hand on writing poetry. There is a poem for many different circumstances to describe this journey toward hope via gratitude. Some of these are quite painful. Injecting hope can be a challenge but when expressed through meaningful words, it brings lots of comfort and peace. Though the poems are not categorized specifically, they are collected and separated by reflective pauses. In the necessity of joy, the poems teach us how to appreciate the small things in our daily lives. Even the humble dandelion can show us the way if we have eyes to see. In racially charged environments, sometimes we are tempted to look down even on our own skin colour, especially when we have been discriminated against. Joy comes when we willingly accept who we are and not to be derailed by the behaviour of others on the basis of skin colour. Just observing the love of a father to his son parallels the vision of angels watching over us. 

Hope also comes via the joy of presence. There is a poem about autism too, prompting us to pause and see from the person's point of view. The world might celebrate Valentine's Day with young couples buying chocolates and flowers for each other. When we take a moment to reflect, it encourages us to make the love as inclusive as possible for all. Resist the poisonous thought and the vice of unforgiveness. Just being aware of a future heaven brings hope. We learn that what we cannot do today, there is always another chance tomorrow. Like a farmer who tills the land and waters the seeds, all the hard work is due to the hope that the seeds will grow and bear fruit in its season. We learn to be grateful for small victories. We consider the pieces of heaven on earth to help us realize that not all is messy in this world. One of the most powerful gifts we have is the gift of creation. Whether it is a personal work of art or a word of inspiration, thankfulness gives us the impetus to milk our creative juices. Over and over, we are reminded that even in the darkest moments, there will always be a ray of hope that shines through the cracks of life. 

My Thoughts

How do we love the world? It begins by noticing the little things that make the world go round. The two guiding virtues are Hope and Gratitude. Like a flashlight shining on a path in the dark, hope lights up the way ahead for us. We may not know the destination but the reason we embark upon the path is that belief that the way ahead will be much better than what we leave behind. The poems in this book cast different rays of hope from a diversity of voices to a wide range of life circumstances. Covering many ordinary events that we are all familiar with, the contributors help us first to see from their eyes and gradually invites us to make sense of our own surroundings and circumstances. Just to be able to see what the poets see is in itself a marvelous exercise of connecting with life. In our busy world, we tend to rush things and push people to do what we want. Poets are able to take a step back and just observe. They are not too concerned about problem solving. They are more concerned about expressing what they see, where they are, who they encounter, when they experience is, and how they feel. The "why" is left to others while poets maintain an existential awareness. Back to the question of how do we love the world. Here, we love the world through different angles of entry. If we have joy, we can love the world with joy. When we appreciate the present, we love the world without waiting for tomorrow. When we pause to think about the future, we realize that hope is essentially trusting in a better tomorrow. When we are grateful for small victories, we learn not to be discouraged by setbacks but to cross the stream of distress by stepping on the visible stones of encouragement. 

With so many different variety of poems from people from an assortment of places, we are able to look outside our own little worlds and learn to see from the perspectives of others. In an increasingly multicultural and pluralistic world, this is becoming more important. Perhaps, the biggest common denominator is this: We are all human and as long as we learn to interact with nature as humans, there is much to hope and be thankful for. This book helps us to see and to appreciate the human side of seeing the world, and loving the world.

James Crews is the author of three collections of poetry: The Book of What Stays, Telling My Father, Bluebird, and Every Waking Moment. He is also the editor of the popular Healing the Divide: Poems of Kindness and Connection. His poems have appeared in Ploughshares, The New Republic, and The Christian Century, and have been reprinted in former US poet laureate Ted Kooser’s weekly newspaper column, “American Life in Poetry,” and featured on Tracy K. Smith’s podcast, The Slowdown. Crews holds an MFA in creative writing from the University of Wisconsin–Madison and a PhD in writing and literature from the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. He worked with Ted Kooser on “American Life in Poetry,” which reaches millions of readers across the world. He teaches poetry at the University at Albany and lives with his husband on an organic farm in Shaftsbury, Vermont.

Rating: 4.5 stars of 5.

conrade

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This book has been provided courtesy of Storey Publishing and NetGalley without requiring a positive review. All opinions offered above are mine unless otherwise stated or implied.