Songs of Arthritis

John Muth's poems turn the everyday into mirth. Well, mirth is too light-hearted; let's say painful hilarity. This volume takes both to a new level, even for him. As usual in his work, it's people that supply us with both the ache and the chuckles, but in Songs of Arthritis, he's added his own middle-aged body. I sympathize. I laughed out loud till I cried. And then there's the subtle music of his poems, no lyrical rhymes, but rather the pulse of a well-crafted bass line, rhythms drawing stanzas to their little climaxes, and poems to their seemingly inevitable jocular burst. Aristotle would be proud: here is catharsis apotheosized, poems that release our frustrations and pain through laughter and truth.

-Steven Dale Davison is the author of three books of poetry, Dancing Mockingbird, O My Heart, and The Road to Continental Heart.



John Muth is a wordsmith, a stand-up-comic trapped in the soul of a poet. He wields satire like a rapier-witty, timely, intelligent, a reflection of the times in which we live, yet with a heart hidden beneath dark humor. In "Songs of Arthritis," John takes us on a Camino of the aging process, with its incessant reminders, through bodily discomfort, of everyone's journey from cradle to grave, and the myriad ways we defend ourselves against the pre-ordained hook-up with the Grim Reaper. John uses suffering as a common vehicle in which we can all find communion -that slight relief from the inescapable degradation of the body over time. Misery has to have something to enjoy and with John Muth, you are in good company.

-Steve Nolan is the author of three books of poetry, Go Deep, Base Camp, and American Carnage, An Officer's Duty to Warn.



John Muth's latest book, Songs of Arthritis, is a walk on the wry side into the shadows of aging. The collection shares a uniquely personal and witty take on the aches, pains and medical misadventures that may be thrust upon us. This book with poems like, "Grandma's Fingers," "Music as Medicine," (with lines like Mozart's timpani in forte/ strikes off the ice/ from a half-frozen muscle, ) and "Cortisone Hope" all wonderfully resonate with his droll and spirited take on the world and you meet someone who will never, Go gentle into that good night.

-Coleen Marks, is the author of Writing Naked and Twin Passions and an award-winning photographer.