Publisher: Brett Nelson, brnelson4@gmail.com
Language: English
Paperback: 130 pages
ISBN: 979-8-9867914-0-1
5 Stars
Full disclosure: Brett Nelson and I read at the same open mic venues now and then. I’ve always admired his poetry, so ordered the book. I am grateful I did.
Not only does he have narrative poetry that tells great stories, his poetry is accessible to anyone who isn’t sure whether they would like poetry or not. As an added bonus, there are about 36 color photos in the book, that he took and that give a more complete atmosphere (and also make me homesick for Albuquerque).
His first poem, Looking Right at Me starts with “Lying outside in the darkest places-- / in the middle of the Pecos Wilderness / or remote canyons on the Colorado Plateau, / … / so it feels like each and every star is / looking right at me. / They talk to me straight and clear. /”
Each poem is a mini memoir of his journey on this planet, this Blue Dot we all share. Each poem is a love story, whether between Nelson and Earth, or Nelson and Persons. American Stew tells how “I cook with lots of spices and don’t measure,” and ends with an admonition that he doesn’t want our country’s melting pot to melt down too much, “he wants the stew to remain a stew, not a puree.”
Alive and Awake, brings us to the end of this book. He’s still “hiking the gently rolling hills / at the foot of the Sandia Mountains / …mindful of all I walk past,” until he gets to the end where we perhaps learn his secret to long life, “so I embrace it today and pull it close, / watch all I see and listen to the voice of the wind / and to my own mind and heart, / alive and awake to the day that offers itself.”
Mr. Nelson embodies the Lakota Mitakue Oyasin, all my relations, in his book of poetry.
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