The Waiting Room Reader, by the editors of CavanKerry Press, 2010, 87 pages

I like CavenKerry Press. I review their books often, because they know poetry, they respect it and they are one of the few publishers printing and promoting new poets’ works. I generally stay away from compilations, however. It’s too risky to take a stand on most compilations given the typical wide variety of styles, themes and poets. Usually there’s something for everyone, and something everyone will dislike as well.
That’s true of The Waiting Room Reader, but I decided to mention it because it comes from a press doing good work, and I’m a sucker for CavenKerry.
This is really a collection of CavenKerry poets disguised behind the conceit, literally, of a waiting room collection. We spend a lot of time sitting around hospital and doctors’ waiting rooms. So, instead of reading bad, outdated magazines, why not browse through a collection of, generally, uplifting poems of all different styles and forms. There’s no overriding theme, just a bunch of poems divided into categories like Food and Home and Daughters and Sons. Some of it’s good, some is not, but the presentation is pleasant and the idea is sound.
It’s all part of CavenKerry’s GiftBooks outreach program and copies of The Waiting Room Reader are given out to underfunded hospitals. You can buy one as well, and you should if you are interested in a decent cause. If not, at least ask your doctor to stock it instead of US magazine.
Unrated but A for idea