A Work of Body - by Sharon Neubauer (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

The poems in Work of Body: Body of Work slow down time and ask us to appreciate the artistry and magnitude of the smallest Work of Body such as a single breath or a spinal adjustment. As the poems progress the Works of Body grow larger and help us recognize our small connection to larger Bodies such as a Body of Water or a World Body. With physicality, poignancy and humor, Work of Body: Body of Work explores the blurry lines where each Body begins and ends and invites us to share in the insights that arise from the inquiry.

Review Quotes

Sharon Neubauer transports readers on a journey with breath through nature and time in her poetry chapbook debut, A Work of Body: A Body of Work. Travel among the cumulous clouds formed by breath and wonder "Do breaths recognize each other? Particles of friends once joined / now separated, now merging...". Tread softly to the river's edge "for I am but a facet of you / always moving and reflecting ...". [Expound on] themes of "connection to all" through the act of breathing ..., observing and transforming internally "I grew my heart/ into my neck and shoulders ...", and across the universe "You were dirt and you were stardust ... you were carried across the sea / found family / shaped shining shell ... Remember all you have been ...". Sprinkled with [whimsy] ... in "My shoulders have shouldered all they should shoulder..." and "Good Morning thing that is wrong with me that I can't quite express / Good morning guesser of what is wrong with me...". This is a journey you will want to ... revisit again and again, glimpsing something you may not have seen the first time on your path.-Kelly Bradley, Author of love, loss and the enormity of it all

From the very first lines, "Breath knocks/at nostril doors" the reader of Neubauer's book is gifted with poems of humor, sensitivity, wisdom, and grace. The author's years of learning and teaching yoga are here, in wise words about breath, body, and mind, along with a "weight of attention" to language. These poems remind us to pay attention, to be gentle with ourselves, to laugh. For doesn't mastery include play? Neubauer proves that it must.

-Ann Quinn, author of Final Deployment