Chosen from the Little Free Library #36793 - Crystal City Water Park in Arlington, VA.

Goodreads Description:
Powerful New work by a modern master.

You must listen, listen, listen.
Tired springs breathe under water.
At four in the morning the last, lonely bolt of lightning
scribbles something quickly in the sky.
It says "No." Or "Never.
"Or "Take courage, the fire's not dead."
-from "The Last Storm"

Mysticism for Beginners is the third and most beautiful of Adam Zagajewski's collections to appear in English. The poems are about nature, history, the life of cities, the transformations of art, the spiritual essence of everyday life. Their remarkable staying power derives from the gentle meditative authority of Zagajewski's voice, here expertly translated into English by Clare Cavanagh. Zagajewski's committed, compassionate poems offer access to the mysteries at the heart of experience.

I read a few but couldn't get into them. I hope the next reader will find them more enjoyable.

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Going to the winner of Spatial's August 2019 offer in
greenbadger's one book a month thread!

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Received safely. Thanks for the bonus book! I'll definitely give it a try.

I didn't really know what to expect from this collection, but I was blown away! I found the poetry very evocative and the imagery imaginative and fresh. I have to give some of the credit for that to the translator, Clare Cavanagh. Not every poem resonated with me, but the vast majority of them did. Zagajewski was very skilled at conjuring a mood, I felt. I would definitely read more of his work.

Thank you so much, Spatial, for sharing this with me! One of the many reasons that I love BookCrossing is because it introduces me to books that I never would have been likely to come across otherwise, and that is certainly true of this one.

I'm sending a box of surprise RABCKs that I thought you might enjoy. As always, no pressure to read them if they are not for you... do as you please with them! I'm including this one because you are one of the few BookCrossers I know of who has any interest at all in poetry.

The box of books arrived safely today - a lovely surprise; many thanks! This poetry collection looks intriguing!

Later: I enjoyed this collection, especially the entries "Cello" ("Those who don't like it say it's/just a mutant violin/that's been kicked out of the chorus....") and "Houston, 6 p.m.", which contains the passage:

"Poetry summons us to life, to courage
in the face of the growing shadow."

Guidelines for safely visiting and stocking Little Free Libraries during the COVID-19 pandemic, from the LFL site here.

I plan to leave this book, bagged against the elements, on the information board at the park trailhead; hope someone enjoys it!

[See other recent releases in NH here.]

*** Released for the 2022 52 Towns in 52 Weeks challenge. ***

*** Released for the 2022 Keep Them Moving challenge. ***