A Dreamer's Guide to Cities and Streams

Joan Gelfand

POETRY

In her second full-length poetry collection, Joan Gelfand explores the poignancy of living in a world that is war-torn and environmentally damaged. With a nod to the humorous paradox of modern life, Gelfand writes from the vantage point of a mother, an artist, and a Zen meditator. “A Dreamer’s Guide…” looks beyond the surface of our lives at the connections that make live worth living, and the sensual details that color it.

Many works in “A Dreamer’s Guide…” are simply about the language and the observation of small, intimate details of daily life while poems such as “Requiem for a Dying Planet,” and “War Rant” open our souls to the urge to be a part of something bigger, and more humane. Joan’s work has been compared with Langston Hughes, Sylvia Plath and Stephen Dunn.