Wind, Trees

by John Freeman

A politically urgent yet timeless collection that studies
the devastating failings of humanity and the redemptive possibilities of love.

In Wind, Trees, John Freeman presents a meditation on
power and loss, change and adaptation. What can the trees teach us about
inhabiting space together? What might we gain if we admit we do not control the
wind, and cannot possibly carry all we’ve been handed? Offering a stark moral critique
of pandemic self-preservation—as “justifications grew / with greed like vines /
up the side of a tree / taking everything”—Wind, Trees joins the ranks
of politically urgent yet timeless collections like The Lice by W.S.
Merwin. Through narrative lyric and metaphysical pulse, meandering thought and
punctuating quiet, Freeman studies the devastating failings of humanity and the
redemptive possibilities of love.

Genres: Poetry

81 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 25, 2022

About the author

Librarian note:
There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name.
This profile may contain books from multiple authors of this name
For other authors of this name, see:

John Freeman - English poet and essayist, 1880-1929

John Freeman - Book critic, Editor

John Freeman - British politician, diplomat, broadcaster, 1915-2014

Reviews

[Lily Poppen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m always biased toward trees, but honestly, the most effective sections were the longer form narratives. The treatment of wind should have been explored more and I don’t think the enjambment was always effective or explored the sonic potential of his works, but the poem at the end is a killer good one and “Windbreak” and “The Red Umbrella.”

[Weadee · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I started this collection at the beginning of April I thought it would be an assortment of naturalist poems that would keep me company as I welcomed the spring. While it's kept me company in some capacity, the content was a bit different. Rather than exploring the natural world, Freeman instead examines its relationship to lives spent in it. I don't know if that's what made it hard for me at the start, but when I went back and revisited some of the poems tonight, keeping that in mind made a noticeable difference. I enjoyed it :)

Favourite poems were:
Yard Dogs
The Green Tram
Icicles
Without
Still
Sailing and
Signs

[Alyson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read a few poems each day. Been so long since I've done that, so here's a new goal for this winter: read poems each day. For the rest of my life. For today, at least, it's good to feel happier by reading poetry on paper.

Favorite poem from this collection:

Burning the Days

I was fire then everything
burned the days the hours

quickened each night as darkness
came thermal belts and fine smoke

led us out to scorch the dark
the next day our work

under a canopy of clouds
swinging our arms like lanterns

happy and unaware walking fast
in columns of air

[Camille Dungy]

The poems I like most in John Freeman’s new collection come in the book’s second section, focused on trees. These seem to operate within the same rooted, deliberate grandeur of a grove of old-growth hardwoods. Freeman, a careful arborist, attends to each branch and leaf, describing what we might learn from the world by learning to read the messages communicated by the many vibrant living beings surrounding us.

Review published originally with Orion Magazine: https://orionmagazine.org/article/14-...

[Ryan Bry · Rating 5 out of 5]

The author has a powerful perspective that peers into the tangible structures of the world. And the intangible he brings forth to write with them like they were made of feathers. My mom bought this book in San Diego and lent it to me while I stay at a psychiatric shelter in Missouri. It's good to see images of the outside world. Thank you, John Freeman. I wish you blessed sparks of natural hope and much more to come. From Ryan.

[Allegra Goodman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Poems that you'll want to contemplate. I love the colors in this book, the tactile sensation, the sense of light and shade.

[Zuska · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent poetry - a wonderful experience to read and much food for thought on every page.

[Shawn Aebi · Rating 3 out of 5]

This collection roams from Greenwich village to Pennsylvania churches, observing the gestures of trees and birds, marveling at the remains and how we go on living without key people.

[Beelzefuzz · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved the stiller, observational slice pieces here.