Poetry. GET UP SAID THE WORLD is a personal exploration of the profound and universal dualities of life. The book begins by stacking up evidence why someone would want to pull the covers over our heads--each poem illuminating a new reason: loneliness, lack of purpose, lost youth, physical and emotional pain, longing, abuse of power, man's ineptitude and cruelty. The poet amasses a soul-deadening weight that risks paralysis and despair. In the second half, she takes the given world and derives personal meaning from it in a way that shows the ravishing beauty and richness around us. We are led through triumphant images of nature, kindness and courage by the skilled hands of a priestess of the beautiful. These poems often become meditations, meanderings of the poet's mind that lead to a rejuvenation bordering on the spiritual. They depict everyday glories with a simplicity that gets to the heart.
"In GET UP SAID THE WORLD, Gail Goepfert's stunning full-length poetry collection, every poem is either an elegy or a love poem to the world. Bringing forth her lyrical and narrative gifts, Goepfert pays close attention to both the sorrow and beauty that are the price and prize of being fully human, looking unflinchingly at disconnection, violence, and death, while also turning her gaze to those unexpected moments of human redemption that make it all worthwhile. Like the book's title, these poems are a wake-up call reminding us that 'the simplest things last, ' and that our true heart's home can be found in the consolations of nature, family, and authentic human connection. With a photographer's eye, Goepfert brings us poems that celebrate both light and shadow, but always with a poet's determination to sing despite the noise of the world, refus[ing] to hush the bee box inside me."--Angela Narciso Torres
"In poems both searing and tender, each married to a dictionary definition, Gail Goepfert creates a new lexicon for loss, for remembering, for relishing the ordinary. She offers readers the world with all its flaws, celebrates each observation, reminds us that there is 'No way to backspace, delete what's soulless.' GET UP SAID THE WORLD is a collection that will leave readers enraptured with the details of daily living and the words used to define it."--Donna Vorreyer
"Gail Goepfert's, GET UP SAID THE WORLD, is a unique meditation on relationships and life. Poignant and playful, these poems stay in our minds and ask through images and definitions: How do we persist in this living? Goepfert's distinct form gives readers an inspiring way to view the present and past while also allowing the poems to reverberate with each additional read. Topography shifts. Swiftly... I want to stay untamed-smart, engaging, and thoughtful in their appreciation of the nuances of language, the beauty of these poems will enhance your imagination and make you grateful for their stories."--Kelli Russell Agodon
