{"product_id":"9781632100016","title":"Accidental Joy: A Streak of Poetry","description":"\u003cp\u003eWith the sprawling celebration of Walt Whitman and the meditative concentration of Mary Oliver, \u003cem\u003eAccidental Joy\u003c\/em\u003e is more than a poetic monologue-it is a personal epic. It is private prayer and public performance in one. Sitting down to read it feels like you're taking in a good bottle of wine: the flavors, highlights, and notes are diverse and complex, but they nonetheless create a unified flavor, a cohesive and balanced whole.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e-\u003cstrong\u003eAllyson Whipple\u003c\/strong\u003e, author of \u003cem\u003eWe're Smaller Than We Think We Are\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eJudith Austin Mills is a poet who wins poetry contests, some with very formal requirements, but this sequence opened to me her driving force for clear, beautiful expression in free verse. I found graceful lyricism, eloquent description, and searing social criticism, all of them in a stream of philosophical insight highlighted with snorts of humor. I will be buying copies of this book to give to my friends.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e-\u003cstrong\u003eElzy Cogswell\u003c\/strong\u003e, former President of the Austin Poetry Society, award-winning poet \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eEach passionate stanza is entire to itself, but the whole poem, sustained for 101 stanzas, pours down with the power of a waterfall. You'll encounter humor, jazz, gratitude, fresh ideas and imagery. The poet acknowledges dismay at what is, inner and outer, yet in another stanza finds redemption.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e-\u003cstrong\u003eMary Ellen Branan\u003c\/strong\u003e, author, \u003cem\u003eWeavings\u003c\/em\u003e, 2010 Blue Light Book Award, 2011 Peace Corps Award for Best Poetry Book\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe poems in \u003cem\u003eAccidental Joy\u003c\/em\u003e are meditations that take us \"as close to home as a human of any age ever gets.\" Invoking the power of memories, they invite us along \"where light walks\" into nature's wonders and the wondrous workings of the human heart.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e-\u003cstrong\u003eUte Carson\u003c\/strong\u003e, author,\u003cem\u003e Just a Few Feathers, Folding Washing, Colt Tailing\u003c\/em\u003e and\u003cem\u003e In Transit\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWord windows. Mini-movies...images, fresh, evocative, parallel, equivalent. They sing to and for us. Worthy words, scenes, dreams. Read into them. WELCOME IN!\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e-Thom Woodruff, known as Thom-the-World Poet, poet and performing artist\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eJudith Austin Mills writes directly to the reader about the creative pursuit and its importance to the soul. \u003cem\u003eAccidental Joy\u003c\/em\u003e offers homage to nature, while it urges us to transcend regret and frustration. The verses are \"psalms\" that inspire. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e-\u003cstrong\u003eJulene T. Weaver\u003c\/strong\u003e, author, \u003cem\u003eNo Father Can Save Her\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eCase Walking\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Plain View Press, LLC","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47032098423024,"sku":"9781632100016","price":14.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9781632100016_p0.jpg?v=1763673689","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9781632100016","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}