How to Love the World: Poems of Gratitude and Hope

In his second triumphant anthology—after Healing the Divide: Poems of Kindness & Connection from 2018, an earlier book pick of mine—James Crews of Vermont offers another delicious gathering of voices, including Dorianne Laux, Jane Hirshfield, Andrea Potos, Joy Harjo, Marjorie Saiser, Lucille Clifton, and many others, to lift readers’ sagging spirits. He arranges the poems deftly, including “Reflective Pause” pages that offer commentary and an invitation for writing. This book could be your gift for everyone this year. We need it. Seriously, if you’re able, order extra copies. People frequently need gifts, whether in or out of quarantine—having extras of these books will take care your needs. I love the thoughtful selections of James Crews: the poems he chooses are incredibly welcoming, a harmonious chorus of voices dwelling together and magnifying one another. They sound as though they want to live side by side in a beautiful volume, to encourage people. Certainly they take difficulty into account, sometimes rising up from the round fullness of despair and trouble, giving us something helpful to hold on to. Especially, they sing. This is another crucial text for literature teachers to keep close at hand and for readers who know how poems echo our deepest experiences. It’s certainly for teenagers as well as adults.