Another one of life’s surprises showed up on my desk the other day.  My husband left a book for me titled, Work is Love Made Visible: Poetry and Family Photos by Jeanetta Calhoun Mish (West End Press, Albuquerque, 2009).  My first reaction, as ever, was to be filled with delight and gratitude for a partner who brings me presents.  My second reaction was a huge sigh as I studied the leaning stack of other books to read precariously balanced on the table by my day sofa.  Well, I thought, I’ll just add this one to the pile…

But the cover of people working in a field in early day Oklahoma captivated my attention, as did the other thirteen black and white photographs.  I flipped through the poems (thirty-four in all) and read a snippet here and there.  The opening quote, from which the book’s title is taken, is by Kahlil Gibran:  “All work is empty save when there is love…Work is love made visible.”

Before I realized what I was doing, I had settled back against the pillows and started reading, my comfort zone immediately increased by the warm sun pouring in the window and the song of a cardinal singing merrily in the bare-branched Rose of Sharon bush nearby.  Time passed, my other chores became forgotten as I immersed myself in the free verse narrative and lyric poems.  My favorite, by far, was Mish’s tribute to her brother Philip in a poem titled, “for my brother,” which has a first part titled “what I wrote” (his official obituary) and a second part titled “what I didn’t write” (her true re-telling of his life).  The impact of that poem followed me throughout the day and has remained.  That alone shows Mish’s talent as a poet and writer.

There were many memorable lines throughout this fine collection but the one I wrote down to read again and again is this:  “I believe that loving the world in its wholeness might save me from melancholy.”

To find out more about Carolyn Calhoun Mish, visit her website: www.tonguetiedwoman.com