Announcing the publication of
ALL VOWS: NEW & SELECTED POEMS
by David B. Axelrod
Nirala Publications, available August 10, 2016
192 pages, perfect bound, ISBN 81-8250-082-6
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All Vows: New & Selected Poems is the most thorough selection of Dr. David B. Axelrod’s forty-plus years as a professional poet.
“Many of us have been reading David B. Axelrod’s approachable, wise, and witty poems for decades, so it’s a real treat to have so many of them collected in one book. All Vows deserves a wide and appreciative readership.” — Peter Meinke, Poet Laureate of Florida
“David B. Axelrod believes, as I do, that poetry is for everyone. So rather than hiding behind metaphor, his poems tend to speak openly of what matters the most to him—love and wit. “If you meet a monster,” he says, ”offer it your hand.” And—this is brave—he does.” — Lola Haskins, Winner of two Florida Book Awards and the Emily Dickenson Prize for poetry.
Divided almost equally between new work and poems going back to his first book published in 1968, the contents are arranged thematically rather than chronologically. There are poems about family, nature, sports; poems about prejudice and politics; a host of topics from the sacred to the profane.
“All Vows is witty, honest, personal, yet universal poetry—witness to our troubled age, but also a celebration of life and the beauty poetry is able to transmit.” — Barry Wallenstein, author of Drastic Dislocations, New and Selected Poems (New York Quarterly Books, 2012).
A self-proclaimed populist poet and Volusia County, Florida, Poet Laureate, Axelrod writes in direct but clever language—more witty than metaphoric. A poem entitled “Sun Worship,” that recounts the warnings of his dermatologist, ends with the lament, “No one can tell me Vitamin D stands for death.”
Poet, editor and anthologist, X. J. Kennedy, commenting on a previous Axelrod collection, said, “For all the artfulness of his poems, there is something unliterary about them—that is, they don’t smell of the scholar’s lamp, they seem at times to have turned up in the Lost & Found department of a hotel in Long Island City.”
That easy artfulness is reflected in the diverse subject matter in All Vows, with topics from backseat driving to xenophobia, autograph collecting to valentines. It is not just an enjoyable read, it is teachable text for poetry.
A FREE GUIDE FOR CLASSROOM USE
Those ordering the book for classroom use can request a free copy of Lessons for All Vows: A Student & Teachers Poetry Guide. The book of new and selected poems has ample samples of a variety of styles, sonnets, haikus, tankas, and poems that serve as prompts for those who write poems of their own.
William Stafford, whose own poems were renown for their simple artfulness, described Axelrod’s work as, “Poems to cherish and pass around … a prize to keep.”