The Work Ethic of the Shopping Cart Shaman

Gene Berson has been writing these stream-of-thought poems for years, and he has a huge well of thoughts to draw from. It feels like he has read and considered pretty much everything, and this book is full of surprising connections, minute observations, and that rare thing: a fresh perspective. His encounters with the fleeting beauty of the natural world are sometimes humorous, always poignant, as man and creature attempt to communicate. His powers of observation - of people below his rooftop view living out their daily lives in the City, an older man who picks him up hitchhiking, some Korean women who let him sit with them on a mountainside beside their fire, a woman singing in another room, squirrels attempting to speak, Adirondack chairs at the ends of piers - all are delivered to us with near photographic clarity of image and a restrained overflow of heart.