A Poem At The Right Moment

A Poem at the Right Moment collects, and preserves, poems—called catus—that have circulated orally for centuries in South India. The poems are remarkable for their wit and precision, their lyrical insight on the commonplace, their fascination with sensual experience, and their exploration of the connection between language and desire. Taken together the catus offer a penetrating critical vision and an understanding of the classical traditions of Telugu, Tamil, and Sanskrit. Each poem is presented in a contemporary English translation along with the Indian-language original. An introduction and a concluding essay explore in detail the stories and texts that comprise the catu system. This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1998.

When we say “Right on Time” we are speaking of that precise moment when something should be said in gratitude of, or for appreciation for a special remark or gesture. More often than not, one gets overwhelmed at something that was either said or done, especially when they least expect it. They then struggle with choosing the proper words to express their gratification. This may happen when someone says (or does) something nice for you during a time when you were totally unprepared. Or, there are times when a person feels what they want to say should be more personal or more descriptive. By nature, you want to say “Thank You” but your brain sits in a state of idle dissolution while you mentally grasp for the proper verbiage, and wonder how to say it with elegance and with proper enunciation and meaning. If this has ever happened to you, maybe Right on Time, Poems for the Right Moment is a book you will relate to.

'Truly a marvellous collection ... There is balm for the soul, fire for the belly, a cooling compress for the fevered brow, solace for the wounded, an arm around the lonely shoulder - the whole collection is a matchless compound of hug, tonic and kiss' Stephen Fry As heard on BBC Radio 4, the essential prescriptions from William Sieghart's poetic dispensary Sometimes only a poem will do. These poetic prescriptions and wise words of advice offer comfort, delight and inspiration for all; a space for reflection, and a chance to realize - I'm not the only one who feels like this. In the years since he first had the idea of prescribing short, powerful poems for all manner of spiritual ailments, William Sieghart has taken his Poetry Pharmacy around the length and breadth of Britain, into the pages of the Guardian, onto BBC Radio 4 and onto the television, honing his prescriptions all the time. This pocket-sized book presents the most essential poems in his dispensary: those which, again and again, have really shown themselves to work. Whether you are suffering from loneliness, lack of courage, heartbreak, hopelessness, or even from an excess of ego, there is something here to ease your pain. 'The book is delightful; it rightly resituates poetryin relation to its biggest and most serious task: helping us to live and diewell' Alain de Botton

One night, after an unsatisfying evening at a party, the author sat down and wrote her heartfelt poem 'The Invitation'. It travelled by word-of-mouth and the Internet across the globe. In this book, she expands on the ideas behind the poem and has created a guidebook for living a life full of integrity, commitment and passion.

When we say "Right on Time" we are speaking of that precise moment when something should be said in gratitude of, or for appreciation for a special remark or gesture. More often than not, one gets overwhelmed at something that was either said or done, especially when they least expect it. They then struggle with choosing the proper words to express their gratification. This may happen when someone says (or does) something nice for you during a time when you were totally unprepared. Or, there are times when a person feels what they want to say should be more personal or more descriptive. By nature, you want to say "Thank You" but your brain sits in a state of idle dissolution while you mentally grasp for the proper verbiage, and wonder how to say it with elegance and with proper enunciation and meaning. If this has ever happened to you, maybe Right on Time, Poems for the Right Moment is a book you will relate to.

Featuring “Good Bones”—called “Official Poem of 2016” by the BBC/Public Radio International. Maggie Smith writes out of the experience of motherhood, inspired by watching her own children read the world like a book they've just opened, knowing nothing of the characters or plot. These are poems that stare down darkness while cultivating and sustaining possibility, poems that have a sense of moral gravitas, personal urgency, and the ability to address a larger world. Maggie Smith's previous books are The Well Speaks of Its Own Poison (Tupelo, 2015), Lamp of the Body (Red Hen, 2005), and three prize-winning chapbooks: Disasterology (Dream Horse, 2016), The List of Dangers (Kent State, 2010), and Nesting Dolls (Pudding House, 2005). Her poem “Good Bones” has gone viral—tweeted and translated across the world, featured on the TV drama Madam Secretary, and called the “Official Poem of 2016” by the BBC/Public Radio International, earning news coverage in the New York Times, Washington Post, Slate, the Guardian, and beyond. Maggie Smith was named the 2016 Ohio Poet of the Year. “Smith's voice is clear and unmistakable as she unravels the universe, pulls at a loose thread and lets the whole thing tumble around us, sometimes beautiful, sometimes achingly hard. Truthful, tender, and unafraid of the dark....”—Ada Limón “As if lost in the soft, bewitching world of fairy tale, Maggie Smith conceives and brings forth this metaphysical Baedeker, a guidebook for mother and child to lead each other into a hopeful present. Smith's poems affirm the virtues of humanity: compassion, empathy, and the ability to comfort one another when darkness falls. 'There is a light,' she tells us, 'and the light is good.'”—D. A. Powell “Good Bones is an extraordinary book. Maggie Smith demonstrates what happens when an abundance of heart and intelligence meets the hands of a master craftsperson, reminding us again that the world, for a true poet, is blessedly inexhaustible.”—Erin Belieu

Rumi the Persian poet is widely acknowledged as being the greatest Sufi mystic of his age. He was the founder of the brotherhood of the Whirling Dervishes. This is a collection of his poetry.