Beginnings and Endings

Paul Neumann has written his finest work to date, a poetic guidebook on living in the present moment. ‘Life can be a journey from miracle to miracle, ’ he reminds us, and the sage-like clarity in these poems arises in one’s eighties, I imagine. The entire first section, poems devoted to his young granddaughter, is a moving and heartfelt road map for the world ahead of her, and the denouement is a meditative exploration of his own aging and mortality. This is a poet’s poet at his best. Our world is better with this poet gracing it. This a beautiful collection from a beautiful man. -Lee Herrick, author of Gardening Secrets of the Dead and This Many Miles from Desire.