A commoner's prayer: poems

by Joan M White

106 pages, Paperback

Published April 1, 2026

Reviews

[Elizabeth]

A pleasant volume of poetry. Each one functions as a sort of snapshot, exploring a single moment or idea. Some react to famous art, and others explore seemingly mundane elements of the natural world. The poems are well-written in spare, modern verse. They are simple, even down-to-earth, in their vocabulary and style, even as they touch on philosophical and Zen Buddhist themes. The poems are quite short, yet the effect as they follow one another is profound: they seem to flow naturally one into another, as the poet leads the reader on an almost spiritual journey. A short tome, but sure to delight many!

[Meredith P · Rating 5 out of 5]

There are some books that catch my breath in how delicately and artfully the words are placed on the page, and I have to pause and look away to savor them. Joan M White selects phenomena in nature, circumstances in a life events, and interchanges between people, and weaves them together with a golden thread that infuses them (and us) with illumined new meaning and depth. This is a collection of poems with rich floral and earthy notes. You'll want to take your time reading it, as you would eating a fine piece of chocolate.

[Gregory Glover · Rating 4 out of 5]

Update: I added a full review at Substack (https://open.substack.com/pub/truthbe...) and at LibraryThing (https://www.librarything.com/work/353...).
A brilliant debut collection of spiritual, nature, and personal poems. Joan White is clearly a mature, sane, wise voice. I hope to see many more over the coming years. Do yourself a favor and grab it when it goes on sale April 1.

[Rootstock Publishing · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful reflection on nature and what it means to be human.