You know that poetry is working when it pulls up memories and contexts from your own life, things the poet can't possibly know but somehow elicited with 10-line poems on, for example, friends, popsicles, bird nests on porch lights, bats, drunk chickadees, noisy woodpeckers, and painfully finishing the last puzzle or caring for figurines left behind by beloved late relatives. This book juxtaposes the poems with art prints from the poet's best friend, and was created during pandemic lockdown as the two women began noticing small but important observations in their own lives and surroundings. Worth multiple readings. Highly recommended.

This is a collection of poetry and illustrations. Beautiful compilation, focused on 10-20 line poems about nature, birds, family, quarantine, relationships. As an artist myself and partially a printer as well, I absolutely adored these imprints. I do have to say that I, personally, didn’t resonate much with lines in this book, but someone definitely will!

Thank you to the author, artist, publisher and NetGalley for having such a nice opportunity to explore this work.

#eventheleastofthese #NetGalley

I don't always understand poetry but this sounded like a fun project. The theme is neat and the poems are all relatable. The artwork is also really cool. This would be fun for everyone from teenage up, because it's easy to understand and the language is smart. Thanks to NetGalley for letting me read this

Thanks to NetGalley and Michigan State University Press for the ARC!

Anita Skeen & Laura B. DeLind’s "Even the Least of These" is a comfort food collection of poems and prints rooted in the interiority of COVID lockdowns.

I am skeptical of “COVID art” because it’s often ambitious in a way that simply doesn’t reflect how 2020 and 2021 were experienced. Let’s be real—most of us were withering, not learning to be our best selves or recognizing the power of the indomitable human spirit.

It was just an awful time.

That said, the smallness many of us retreated to had its moments—sourdough starters gone awry and then aright, gardens tended to in the early hours of the day, and endless weeks poured into Animal Crossing interior design. It’s a squeamish reality that a global trauma could still invite glimpses of joy, and that’s the space that "Even the Least of These" lives in.

These poems are ten-line routines. Normally, labeling a poem “routine” would be among the worst insults imaginable, but here it’s a strength. These are written and read as ritual, with the poet turning her gaze to the world that normally exists just outside our frenetic rhythms. These are celebrations of animal noises and seasonal textures and everything at its most alive. While reading, I was reminded of Simone Weil’s quote that absolutely unmixed attention is prayer—these poems feel like a prayer either to the world or for the world or both. They may not necessarily burrow into a reader’s mind, but they will almost certainly wash pleasantly over them.

Similarly, the artwork is simply gorgeous, showcasing all of the craftsmanship and care that printmaking requires. I always admire the medium because it’s precise but very human. One gets the sense that the artist is responding to the woodcut rather than controlling it, and that feels appropriate for this book and its themes. In conversation, these poems and their corresponding artwork offer a portrait of that singular—sorry, “unprecedented”—moment where contentment became the first priority after survival.

This book is a delight, and it's one that made me a little misty-eyed.

I love the concept behind this book. It’s important to learn to notice and appreciate life’s small pleasures. There is beauty in the mundane if you’re willing to look for it.

I always love to see collaborations between artists and poets, and Anita Skeen’s “even the least of these” poetry collection, along Laura B. DeLind’s prints make a good example. Observing the everyday during the COVID lockdowns and corresponding by sending a poem and getting a print back, the volume is a soft acknowledgement of the daily. The poems, usually ten lines, are acts of attention towards the rest of nature, as are the prints: cut lines, more often in black and white, pointing to the essential (a cloth hung to dry, a cat snuggling, a beak looking for an insect, a chicken). Words welcome April and its spring “it’s noisy underground, / roots and tubers squabbling / for prime time, shoving up shoots.” (p. 41) while the prints focus on a single being or act (a frog, a sunset). It’s a sweet collection meditating on the passing of time, the power of poems and their form, the presence of chickens and tulips, life and death at its mundane scale.

Thanks to Net-Galley for the E-arc!

Very sweet collection of nature poetry. The illustrations worked with the poems as well and kept the mood light and sweet. I will certainly be checking out more by Anita Skeen.

Thank you NetGalley for the chance to read and review this!

I read this within 24 hours. The poems were lovely and had such interesting rhyming schemes going. The print were bold and really grabbed your attention. They complimented each other really well. I hope they will make more visual poetry like this.

There is a simple peace to this collection of poems, which draws you in with illustrations that tell the story. Simple peace is what we all need from time to time, an innocence of childhood. It lets us catch our breath. This beautiful book will be upon my shelf upon publication. I thank NetGalley and Michigan State University Press for the advance read.

The poems and prints are so beautiful that I seek out a bigger screen. I want to read and see beyond my phone's limits.

When your attention is becoming unfocused or blurring by overload, grab a copy - it will help you to see what is right in front of you: food, laundry, work, nature, and more. You'll be surprised how the word and prints bring you back to yourself when you need a breather.

Recommended for artists, poetry lovers, and those going blind and tone-deaf to the beauty of this world.

This was a beautiful poetry book with gorgeous artwork. A short read but deep poems. Coming out of covid-19, we all have been in a position to look at ourselves and life in a way we had not before. These poems lean into that self and life introspection.

This is an intimate collection on thoughts and observations that stem from a difficult time in which the world was collectively experiencing. The keen eye on the immediate world around us is explored in each poem. Some of these are heartfelt and pull at memories from those years that many can resonate with. A lovely collection.