The Unemployed Man Who Became a Tree - Inspirational Transformation Story for Personal Growth & Nature Lovers | Perfect for Book Clubs, Mindfulness Retreats & Environmental Education

I read Pilkington’s poem “Pomegranate” online, and went straight to Amazon to track him down.This title pulled me right in, and the eponymous poem lived up to its promise of delight.Pilkington writes in such a fluid, conversational tone that we begin to accept everything he says as sincere and real. He then ushers us through a door to alternate universes or dreams or dimensions. Who really cares where? We just enjoy seeing the world as he does and wish it could last. He exercises a lot of wit, whimsy, and word play, but I would not call these light poems, because we are changed by them. His quirky views make hard topics easier to read, from insomnia and layoffs to death.Most of the poems are set in or near NYC, but he also takes us on lovely vacations to Greece, Antigua, and Key West. Travel always shows us life in a new light, but Pilkington takes that a step farther by playing with scale, as he “looked down at a toy boat/a child lost, before realizing it was/a cruise ship…” In another poem “your wife…looks elegant wearing the Parthenon/as a crown.” In “The Cape”:“We notice this is whereday ends, how heat breaksthe sun like an egg yolk, then letsit melt over the horizon.”In “Key West,” he tells us that city claims many writers’ ghost can be seen walking there, including Hemingway, Frost, and Bishop:“…Perhaps that’s whyit feels like home – all three havebeen haunting me for years.”The first line of “Travel” sums up his work, “I admit I see things a bit differently.” Now we will, too.