Yes

by B.J. Best

Underneath all the carefully observed the details of life live the larger questions about what it means to be human. B.J. Best’s collection is filled with those details, often rendered in heart-stopping imagery or gentle irony. He shows us a world where a prayer might be found watching “cedar waxwings, cuddled in boughs” or standing at a July 4th gathering “cradling our babies closer/than an oyster polishing its pearl.” Image by image, the answer to every question, to the movement of clouds, the harshness of winter or a wife’s caress must finally be, "Yes."

B.J. Best is the author of three books of poetry: But Our Princess Is in Another Castle (Rose Metal Press, 2013), Birds of Wisconsin (New Rivers Press, 2010), and State Sonnets (sunnyoutside, 2009). He has also published three chapbooks with Centennial Press: Drag: Twenty Short Poems about Smoking (2011); Mead Lake, This (2007); and Crap (2005). He teaches at Carroll University and lives in the Wisconsin countryside with his wife, son, their three cats, and the occasional salamander in their basement.

"Yes" is available for purchase through Parallel Press for $10.00. Discounts are provided for libraries, booksellers, and non-profit organizations.

42 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 2014

About the author

B.J. Best is the author of three books of poetry: But Our Princess Is in Another Castle (Rose Metal Press, 2013), State Sonnets (sunnyoutside, 2009), and Birds of Wisconsin (New Rivers Press, 2010), winner of the Many Voices Project competition and an Outstanding Achievement in Poetry award from the Wisconsin Library Association. He has also published three chapbooks with Centennial Press, most recently Drag: Twenty Short Poems about Smoking, as well as numerous poems in literary magazines, including Denver Quarterly, Hayden’s Ferry Review, Nimrod, North American Review, Pleiades, Quarterly West, and Sentence. He holds an MFA from Washington University in St. Louis and is an Assistant Professor of English at Carroll University. He has twice been a finalist to serve as Wisconsin's Poet Laureate, and serves on the editorial board for Verse Wisconsin.

Reviews

[Caleb · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read the poems I liked best multiple times, which is why it took a month to read. Perhaps my infrequency in reading as well.
A good collection of poetry, nature-heavy, and with words I have to look up; I like poetry like this.
An odd take on God and religion, but that's pretty common with secular poetry.
I'd recommend the book, it's nice and short if you can get a copy 👍

[Joshua Gage · Rating 3 out of 5]

***I received this book as a Goodreads Giveaway***

This is solid book of poetry, with clever images and well-crafted lines. Unfortunately, the poems don't seem to add up to anything, and while they're beautifully crafted, without a solid theme or resonance which the reader can connect with, they're ultimately fluff.