Lamenting My Failure to Learn How to Tap Dance: And Other Missteps

2 reviews for Lamenting My Failure to Learn How to Tap Dance: And Other Missteps

1. 

   Rated 5 out of 5

   Sylvia Cavanaugh – September 4, 2023

   Although Joan Wiese Johannes never learned to tap dance, her poems, many of which are written in form, are infused with delightful rhythm and glide. The poems dance with sound, and all of one’s senses are engaged. The poet even evokes the sense of touch in ways that really grabbed my attention, as in “fake fur on a leaky boot/rubbed my bare calves raw” (The Snow was Deeper Then). There are wonderful surprises and pointed humor. Many of these poems also meditate on love and loss and really deliver emotionally. I became immersed in the way the poet could express the most elemental of human conditions, often using vivid images from nature. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book, enjoyed reveling in the author’s failure to learn how to tap dance.

2. 

   Rated 5 out of 5

   Ellen M. Stocks – September 2, 2023

   I love this collection of poetry! Johannes experiments with many different literary forms of poetry, including villanelles and abecedarians, but what I loved best about this collection was the wide range of topics and emotions remembered, explored and described in her poems. Particularly moving were poems that captured the feelings of a caregiver of a dementia patient (“Black Humor” and “His Name is Sisyphus”) and those of a daughter in the hospital room of her terminally ill mother (“The Elephant”). Equally entertaining and meaningful but more light-hearted were poems about a fantasy laundromat love-affair (“Note Posted Under the Lost Pet Notices”) and a hilarious description of aging female anatomy (“Mantra with Sound Effects”). Johannes is a skilled and gifted writer, and I feel lucky to have had the chance to preview her new book of poetry. I recommend it without reservation!