Some Heaven

by Todd Davis

Todd Davis writes poems that are spare yet eloquent, poems with an appealing simplicity that belies their insight and consequence. They are rooted in the firmament of nature's frequently bruised bounty, yet grounded by our all-too-human experiences on this planet, living on a land that we so often treat with contempt or blunder through blindly. With the eye of a naturalist and the heart- wisdom of a sage, Davis reveals scenes of our lives that we might have otherwise missed. His poems are like the best kind of snapshot; they show us the details that deserve more attention, from a five-year-old's joy in sitting on Dad’s lap and "driving" the family car or standing on a chair to help Mom make Jell-O, to the devastation of drought on farmland or the extraordinary lushness of an ordinary backyard. Because Davis holds up these prose-photos and urges us to take another look, we suddenly experience their profundity and comprehend their meaning. With disarming directness, he connects nature to family, landscape to community, and earth to faith.
     Some Heaven brings together more than 100 Davis poems. Most are concise; all are approachable. In fact, they pull readers in, stirring our senses, tickling our memories. Here are poems about Amish gardens, changing seasons, friends at school, tractors, and deer. Davis urges us to see—not to take a quick look, but to really see—frost on goldenrods, the qualities of dirt, the color of air. Underneath, of course, these are poems about universal themes: love, loss, life, death; but in Davis's skilled hands, they appear to us to be more akin to wild strawberries growing on a rock wall or apples discovered in an abandoned orchard: something fresh, unexpected, and thankfully welcomed.

Genres: Poetry

133 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2007

About the author

Todd Davis is the author of four full-length collections of poetry--In the Kingdom of the Ditch, The Least of These, Some Heaven, and Ripe—as well as of a limited edition chapbook, Household of Water, Moon, and Snow: The Thoreau Poems. He edited the nonfiction collection, Fast Break to Line Break: Poets on the Art of Basketball, and co-edited Making Poems: Forty Poems with Commentary by the Poets. His poetry has been featured on the radio by Garrison Keillor on The Writer’s Almanac and by Ted Kooser in his syndicated newspaper column American Life in Poetry. His poems have won the Gwendolyn Brooks Poetry Prize and have been nominated for the Pushcart Prize. More than 300 of his poems have appeared in such noted journals and magazines as American Poetry Review, Iowa Review, Ecotone, North American Review, Indiana Review, Gettysburg Review, Shenandoah, Image, Poet Lore, Orion, West Branch, River Styx, Poetry Daily, Quarterly West, Green Mountains Review, Sou’wester, Verse Daily, and Poetry East. He teaches creative writing, American literature, and environmental studies at Pennsylvania State University’s Altoona College.

Reviews

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a really nice book of poems. I first heard the one titled, "Prayer Requests at a Mennonite Church" on the radio, and I just loved the tone and sentiment. I love the imagery of the poems and the fact that the poet, Todd Davis, seems to have managed to live a very inspired and richly spiritual life-- I envy all the time he seems to get to spend romping around in the woods--, but he also seems well-adjusted- with a deep love and affection for his wife and kids that is reflected often in his poems- and, refreshingly, he expresses very personal feelings and experiences without coming across as self-absorbed or whiny.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Todd Davis is a master at writing nature. See my review published at Rattle: http://www.rattle.com/ereviews/davist...