THE FATHER GOOSE TREASURY OF POETRY

A sampler of the veteran poet’s work, gathering 101 rhymes on seasons, animals, writing poetry, and like homey topics.

Short and simple are the watchwords, as most entries are limited to a few stanzas, few of the lines are more than a couple of words or a brief phrase, and both language and imagery are easy to comprehend. Some poems are playful; a celebration of “Spring!” goes, for instance, “Across the meadow / By the creek / Bees are playing / Hive and seek.” Others are reflective, as Ghigna invites readers to “hear / A hush of sounds” on “Quiet Days” or, in a closing series, to think metaphorically of a poem as a play, a painting, a song, a spiderweb, “a laugh. / A sigh. / An echo / Passing by.” Brezzi taxes her artistic license by contradicting lines about a baby dove not yet ready to leave the nest by depicting the bird in midair…and though the poet often writes in first person, there is little sign of human presence in the pictures beyond occasional small silhouettes or glimpses of distant buildings. Still, in general her mix of landscapes, wide skies, and delicately detailed close-ups of grasses and wildflowers both adds bright washes of earth tones and expands on the understated lyricism of the verses.

Brief, enjoyable bits of verse well suited to reading or sharing with younger audiences.