Joshua Fields Books

A New Poetic Form: Capturing the Immediacy of Moments, June 22, 2010
By  Grady Harp (Los Angeles, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Staring into the Sun (Paperback)
Joshua Fields may be a moniker Jeff Stanis, another division of his talent, but that does not really affect or concern the reader of this unique collection of poems. Fields writes conversations - one line for the man, one for the woman - and while that may not in a review sound too interesting, reading these moments page by page creates a sense of intimacy shared with humor and with immediate reaction to a question that makes us wish that we each has the foresight to jot down such encounters. These are the encounters of a relationship or a simply a conversation made memorable by the extemporaneous sense of Fields' writing. And just when we think there is nothing profound here, remember that our words often offer only the surface of our thoughts, our beliefs - and the poems take on a different meaning with repetition. Example:
POLITICS
Obama is an amazing campaigner
I like McCain
Most men do
And women?
We're Democrats
Wonder why
You want to know what I think?
Sure
We are life givers, whereas you are life takers
Does it matter?
Which do you think requires more patience,
determination, and strength?
Deep
You asked

Or another example:
THE NEWBORN
Look at the size of her head
That's our daughter you're talking about
Like a Bowling ball
She'll grow into it
I'm so proud
Me too
Has your eyes
And your bald scalp
Are you sacred?
Not at the moment
I'm petrified
Of what?
The boys
You're a boy
Exactly
First she has to learn to crawl
Like us
We had good teachers
The best
Let's put her to bed
Not yet .... I can't stop looking at her

Fields' subjects include Travel, Shopping (hilarious), Control, Anniversary, Summer, Wedding Plans, Moving In - all moments we've shared, but Fields puts them down on paper for us to recall, to muse, to smile, and to relate. Makes you wonder what is his next move... Grady Harp, June 10