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Empty Bench/Empty Chair
From " So Many Benches, So Little Time... When someone sets out a bench or some chairs they are often thinking about others as well as themselves. Each empty bench, each empty chair extends an invitation, presents a kind offer to pause and reflect, conveys a warm welcome to view the world from another perspective, invites one to look at life through someone else's eyes. Once one starts to notice and surrender to the alluring charms of these beckoning rest stops, one begins to discover them everywhere and anywhere....welcome to the wonderful world of empty benches and empty chairs. You may never look at them the same way again!" A charming photo collection of empty chairs and benches taken in AZ and New England. Volume is published by the author. All 132 pages of photos taken by Dennis Flaherty.
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First published November 14, 2013
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
October 5, 2014
The Empty Chair by Michael Andrews is a poetry collection about a bullied victim’s anguish.
These poems peek into the hurting world of bully victims. The collection starts with a simple poem from an overweight classmate who was abandoned by a friend. Her life is now no better than an empty chair.
Some verses speak about finding inner strength, and cultivating friendships with other bully victims. Additional viewpoints are poignant too, such as the parent’s lament for a son who took his life because of the unbearable harassment. Some poems mention hope. Even though the victim is enduring the Darkest of Days, things will get better.
Teen school life is cruel to all kids that are different. The Empty Chair is a sobering read. The verses are an excellent warning to all who ignore, or cause, a bully victim’s torment.
These poems peek into the hurting world of bully victims. The collection starts with a simple poem from an overweight classmate who was abandoned by a friend. Her life is now no better than an empty chair.
Some verses speak about finding inner strength, and cultivating friendships with other bully victims. Additional viewpoints are poignant too, such as the parent’s lament for a son who took his life because of the unbearable harassment. Some poems mention hope. Even though the victim is enduring the Darkest of Days, things will get better.
Teen school life is cruel to all kids that are different. The Empty Chair is a sobering read. The verses are an excellent warning to all who ignore, or cause, a bully victim’s torment.
January 17, 2020
I hate giving this two stars. The message is super important, and I appreciate the author for making this short collection to highlight it. I liked too, how viewpoints from all people dealing with bullying got a seat at this table. The victim, the bystander, the parents, the friends. The poetry itself though, just didn't sing to me. I liked what it was about, but not particularly it itself. So I have to give it a two.
February 23, 2015
Pain in Plain English
This is a compilation of moving, powerful poems on the theme of abuse both physical and emotional. The poems are raw and unpolished - and therefore more powerful in their painful sincerity.
We have lots of different names for bullying - hazing, initiation, teasing, name-calling, beating up, persecuting, excluding, 'sending to coventry' - and many of them reflect how we try to make the abuse sound less vicious and more acceptable, or at least ignorable. In The Empty Chair Michael Andrews says, "No." No, it's not ignorable, it's not acceptable, and the degree of pain it causes is comparable to torture by the secret police of a dictatorial state.
The language of the poems is simple. The rhymes are largely obvious. Sometimes word choices are forced according to rhyme, and sometimes the rhythm is disrupted because something just has to be said. From an academically literary perspective it is not great poetry. I would give it, probably, three stars. But poetry doesn't work like that, and exactly because these poems are so raw, so heartfelt and sincere and unconsidered, they speak with power.
The book is intended for a wide range of readers: victims, bystanders, bullies, and parents of all of these. Usefully, the book has lots of links to the BeatBullying initiative, which enables any reader to access support easily.
In conclusion, I must add that I think the cover of this book is brilliant. It (almost) tells the whole story at a glance.
This is a compilation of moving, powerful poems on the theme of abuse both physical and emotional. The poems are raw and unpolished - and therefore more powerful in their painful sincerity.
We have lots of different names for bullying - hazing, initiation, teasing, name-calling, beating up, persecuting, excluding, 'sending to coventry' - and many of them reflect how we try to make the abuse sound less vicious and more acceptable, or at least ignorable. In The Empty Chair Michael Andrews says, "No." No, it's not ignorable, it's not acceptable, and the degree of pain it causes is comparable to torture by the secret police of a dictatorial state.
The language of the poems is simple. The rhymes are largely obvious. Sometimes word choices are forced according to rhyme, and sometimes the rhythm is disrupted because something just has to be said. From an academically literary perspective it is not great poetry. I would give it, probably, three stars. But poetry doesn't work like that, and exactly because these poems are so raw, so heartfelt and sincere and unconsidered, they speak with power.
The book is intended for a wide range of readers: victims, bystanders, bullies, and parents of all of these. Usefully, the book has lots of links to the BeatBullying initiative, which enables any reader to access support easily.
In conclusion, I must add that I think the cover of this book is brilliant. It (almost) tells the whole story at a glance.
May 17, 2014
This is a deeply emotional collection of poems. The author focuses on different aspects of bullying, from the kid who is pushed to suicide to the kid who fights back, and even presents a poem from the parents' point of view. The message is unmistakable, as it shines through each poem: stop bullying! No matter its form, it is wrong, and the author makes that clear through his use of poetry.
Personally, I can't imagine anything being so bad that someone would take their own life. However, children do not think rationally and need much more emotional support than some realize. These poems illustrate that fact, driving home the need for all of us to make a change. I commend the author on his message and for supporting charity with his writing.
The writing itself is done well. There are some poems that drive home the message without focusing too much on rhyme or meter. A few, though, seem to be worded awkwardly in order to make the poem rhyme or flow in a certain way. My personal preference is for an author to speak from his/her heart rather than trying to follow rules. I enjoyed the less structured poems the best from this collection.
I was given a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.
Personally, I can't imagine anything being so bad that someone would take their own life. However, children do not think rationally and need much more emotional support than some realize. These poems illustrate that fact, driving home the need for all of us to make a change. I commend the author on his message and for supporting charity with his writing.
The writing itself is done well. There are some poems that drive home the message without focusing too much on rhyme or meter. A few, though, seem to be worded awkwardly in order to make the poem rhyme or flow in a certain way. My personal preference is for an author to speak from his/her heart rather than trying to follow rules. I enjoyed the less structured poems the best from this collection.
I was given a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.
July 6, 2015
Strong subject matter, brave message.
I don’t know if this is the best collection of poetry I’ve read, but I also don’t know a lot about poetry. It is brave though, and has a good message, one which people are often afraid to raise, especially those who have been bullied. So perhaps the subject matter needs verse that’s delivered in plain English, or is rough round the edges in places. Either way, I applaud author Michael Andrews.
I don’t know if this is the best collection of poetry I’ve read, but I also don’t know a lot about poetry. It is brave though, and has a good message, one which people are often afraid to raise, especially those who have been bullied. So perhaps the subject matter needs verse that’s delivered in plain English, or is rough round the edges in places. Either way, I applaud author Michael Andrews.
December 12, 2014
I found this collection of poetry related to bullying to be extremely moving / powerful and would recommend it to everyone.
June 2, 2015
This book was recently entered in The Wishing Shelf Book Awards. This is what our readers thought:
Star Rating: 4 stars
Number of Readers: 16
Readers’ Comments
‘I’m not a big poetry fan but his was pretty good. It made me think about bullying a lot.’ Boy, aged 14
‘Bullying is still a problem in many schools and books like this are important to help children to reflect on the problem. This set of poetry is sensitively written and looks at the problem from a number of POVs. For example, parents who lost a son, a person helping and another person walking away and not. The children in my class enjoyed it and it stimulated much discussion on the topic.’ Teacher, year 10
‘The first poem, The Empty Chair, is really sad. I liked it. It had a strong message and also it flowed well and was easy to follow.’ Girl, aged 15
‘The two best poems in this book were The New Kid and Doing Nothing.’ Boy, aged 13
Stats
Of the 16 readers:
14 would read another book by this author.
7 felt the first poem, The Empty Chair, was the best.
12 did not like the cover; they thought it was a little too child-like.
14 felt the best part of the book was the bullying theme.
3 thought the best part of the book was the style of the poetry: simple and easy to follow.
‘A thoughtful look at the problems of bullying. Highly recommended.’ The Wishing Shelf Awards
Star Rating: 4 stars
Number of Readers: 16
Readers’ Comments
‘I’m not a big poetry fan but his was pretty good. It made me think about bullying a lot.’ Boy, aged 14
‘Bullying is still a problem in many schools and books like this are important to help children to reflect on the problem. This set of poetry is sensitively written and looks at the problem from a number of POVs. For example, parents who lost a son, a person helping and another person walking away and not. The children in my class enjoyed it and it stimulated much discussion on the topic.’ Teacher, year 10
‘The first poem, The Empty Chair, is really sad. I liked it. It had a strong message and also it flowed well and was easy to follow.’ Girl, aged 15
‘The two best poems in this book were The New Kid and Doing Nothing.’ Boy, aged 13
Stats
Of the 16 readers:
14 would read another book by this author.
7 felt the first poem, The Empty Chair, was the best.
12 did not like the cover; they thought it was a little too child-like.
14 felt the best part of the book was the bullying theme.
3 thought the best part of the book was the style of the poetry: simple and easy to follow.
‘A thoughtful look at the problems of bullying. Highly recommended.’ The Wishing Shelf Awards
November 25, 2015
Bullying is a subject close to my heart-- the world needs emotive and memorable poetry about the damage it does to human lives. The imagery in this collection is clearly heartfelt, but the poetry is poorly executed, with little sense of rhythm. The rhymes are forced:
"If you saw a blind child walk into a busy road,
Would you do nothing until down he was mowed?"
"We talked to him, saying we were there,However, in poems which don't attempt rhyme, such as "What If?", the meaning is conveyed much more clearly. This poet has potential, but could do better.
When he wanted to tell us things.
His response was silence, not a word,
To his secrets he always clings."
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews