Some Haystacks Don't Even Have Any Needle

by Stephen Dunning

The work of artists such as Matisse, Klee, and Dali illustrates this diverse collection of poems by both famous and lesser known poets.

Genres: Poetry

47 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 1969

Reviews

[Sharon · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this every few years, and each time am surprised again.

[Danielle Palmer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not as chipper as it’s companion (gift of watermelon
Pickle), this one covers darker topics. Still good.

[Googoogjoob · Rating 3 out of 5]

Basically a sequel to Reflections on a Gift of Watermelon Pickle, selected by the same editors working to a similar MO. There are color photos of modern art, this time, instead of the black-and-white artistic photography of the first volume.

This is less successful than Watermelon Pickle, unfortunately. The two main differences in the length of the poems (they're longer on average here, problematic given that multiple poems on similar themes are still grouped together- it can get monotonous) and in their tone (they get rather darker here). These come together in the longest poem in the volume, Earle Birney's "David" (apparently a mainstay of Canadian English education, though I'd never heard of it before), a dull and overlong poem about a mercy-killing on a mountaineering expedition.

[Holly · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book has a lot of sentimental value to me. My copy is a hand me down from my grandmother, with little bits of paper marking the poems she liked. I found some new favorites, but reading 5 poems about the same obscure thing in a row devalues the poems in my opinion. There's some marvelous poems in here, but some of the collections have a lot of very similar poems.

[Ted · Rating 5 out of 5]

We read poems from this book in English class, Senior year. I liked it so much I sorta, kinda took it. It now sits in prominent position on the bookshelf of my family room.

[M · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the book that taught me that poetry doesn't have to rhyme. I was (at least in 1980s terms) an early reader, and I ran across this book alongside the Shel Silverstein collections on my mom's bookshelf sometime around kindergarten or so. The e.e. cummings selections were especially intriguing to me and were probably the driving force behind the notebooks upon notebooks full of horrid poetry I produced during my teen years.

[Brian · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked this up for free in Baltimore (not sure why they were giving away books). I'm not big on poetry, but once I saw the title...let's just say that one-line poem resonates with disaffected graduate students.

[Jim Sanderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lots of fun. I've had a copy of this book since it was first published, and I agree that it seems to be an introductory textbook to 'modern' poetry. As I among was its target audience when it was released, I'd like to thank the editors for a wonderful look at poetic possibilities.

[Arielle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Every poem in the collection is amazing.