Poetry Review

Mockingbird Come Home: A Book of Poetry
by Stephen B. Wiley
ISBN: 0-9766251-1-3
Review by Heather Froeschl


“Poetry cannot be made of words alone.” How very true, and being a poet, Stephen B. Wiley offers so much more than words in his wonderful collection, “Mockingbird Come Home.” The pages here are filled with memories and moments, emotions, settings, and paintings artistically created with words.

“Mockingbird Come Home” is what poetry is meant to be. Depicting a moment in time, a place in the heart, he writes of “Where We Live” and “Who We Are,” the two sections of the book. The “where” is about places I know personally, not that it matters, for the settings described in Vermont, Florida, and New Jersey are easily seen with the imagination, helped along with Wiley’s words. From a low-water Lake Champlain to the colorful vibrancy of Key West, the memories of places he shares are more personal than postcards. The “who” is even more endearing, with tales told so eloquently of gnarled and vein mapped hands, the grandparent naps before dinner, and the poet who becomes the poem.

Reading the verses of Stephen B. Wiley is a joy to be compared with spending a day in an art gallery. The admirer will see different aspects of each work of art, perhaps what the artist/poet intended, but maybe something else entirely. The joy is in the discovery. “Mockingbird Come Home” is a poetic delight of excellent work.