May Is an Island

by Jonathan Johnson

If the dead are a sea and the living an island, these poems speak from the shore. Their steady company consoles and reminds us that the wages of mortal awareness and sorrow endured can be attention and generosity. From mournful solitude and wanderings as far as Paris, Greece and Spain, Johnson returns again and again to his familiar Scottish coasts, Highlands, and relations; to fatherhood and romantic love; to sensory wonder and the reverence of moments; and now and then to outright grace.

Genres: Poetry

88 pages, Paperback

Published October 30, 2018

Reviews

[Yooperprof · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was great to read this collection after having read Jonathan's account of his family's sojourn in ancestral Scotland. . . Perhaps not essential to know the biographical background, but the reader catches a lot more of the poet's inflection and interiority.

And it's great also to be familiar with the author's home town of Marquette Michigan!

[Abigail · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really loved After Autumn. I also liked Dispensation.