Poems in a Foreign Language --by Thomas Hubbard

Poetry

40 pages

5 Stars

This is a small, hand-stitched book by a gentle man. Mr. Hubbard is of mixed blood, and identifies as Native. His poems are from a Native perspective and deserve to be ranked up there with other, more well-known Native poets such as Joy Harjo and N. Scott Momaday. 

The Only Language I Speak is Foreign really spoke to me. And answered some of my childhood questions.  But my favorite one, at least for now, that will change as I reread the book, is Raining again (A Seattle Poem).

This book is available through Foothill Publishing at: http://foothillspublishing.com/2014/id95.htm and is truly worth the cost in money and more importantly in the time to read and reread. It belongs on the shelf of every lover of honest poetry.

injunz --poems by Thomas Hubbard

Poetry

40 pages

5 Stars

NOTE: There is no ISBN for this little book, which means you'll have to order it from the publisher at http://www.gazoobitales.com/index00home.html.  Or be lucky enough to attend a poetry reading where he is. (That's how I got my copy.)

Hubbard is a mixed-blood of (probably) southeastern tribes—Cherokee and Miami—and Irish and English. He grew up in working class neighborhoods and held working class jobs. He worked hard, went to school, taught writing on the Tulalip Reservation in Washington State, was a publisher and now is a free-lance writer for Raven Chronicles. He knows his subject well.

These poems will give all who read them cause for pause, cause to stop and think about who our ancestors were, what they did, who we are and what we do. No matter where we came from, no matter where we go, Hubbard reminds us through his heritage and through his lyrical poetry, "We are all of us related."

Indeed, we are, all of us, related, whether we are the dream ponies who come to waken us, the buffalo we eat for sustenance, or the young boy named Ira, named for a real hero. We are all of us related—the young native mother who holds a job, shops in a hurry, and takes care of her husband and children, or the farmer who loves his land. Give thanks for your relations; give thanks to Thomas Hubbard for introducing us.

Buy injunz. You'll be glad you did. http://www.gazoobitales.com/index00home.html.

Children Remember Their Fathers --edited by Thomas Hubbard

Nonfiction / Poetry  

150 pages

5 Stars

The subject of these poems is Fathers. We all had one, and the thirty-three poets who contributed to this book, all have different memories. Some are happy; some are not. All will touch your heart, and many may pierce your soul.

These poems made me think of my Daddy, and how grateful I am that he was not like some in this book and how grateful I am I had my Daddy, who was perfect—at least for me. As Hubbard says in the beginning: "Children wrote this book." And children will read it. And, perhaps, be inspired to write their own poems about their fathers.

No longer in print, this book is still available, and I think it is well worth the time to search it out, the cost of purchasing it, and the time to read it—again and again.