I like to read a book of poetry through at first to get a feel for the tone, like walking into a friend's house for the first time and getting a quick tour. Then I read through more slowly, lingering in the rooms that seem most welcoming or, perhaps, most foreboding. Persistent felt like a warm home, not simply a house, yet one filled with the usual ups and downs of life. I have revisited the book several times since receiving it and have found the poems/rooms in which I prefer to dwell, depending on my mood.

The language is descriptive and works to paint both a visual and an emotive picture. My favorites here have sent me back to reread Mark Strand's poem Keeping Things Whole, ponder yet again Kierkegaard's Sickness Unto Death as well as gain strength for a late life career change where I will be traveling, for me, A New Road. What all this is to say is that the poems in this collection, while representing Sheldon's vision and wonderful expression will also speak to the reader. There is even a call to global awareness with an eye toward the past, are the things that don't appear to have changed always been the same or are they occurring again? Either way, "the time is now" to affect change.

This collection will be enjoyed by not only those who already like poetry but will likely bring many over who have been hesitant to read it. Highly recommended!

Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via LibraryThing. ( )