In Harmony With Homophones by Mike Wahl

Mike Wahl is a farmer-philosopher who takes on subjects as small as what kind of plant Japanese beetles like best (Smart-weed) and as large as the fall of the Roman empire. His true subject, however, is the human heart, and how often we fail in our relationships with others, our environment, and our society. Still, there are moments, in “the temporary camaraderie of exuberance,” when we can envision a better world. In Wahl’s poems, second chances abound, even in the sounds of our words, as when we move from “razing” to “raising.”

–Jennifer Horne is the Poet Laureate of Alabama and the author of three books of poetry, Bottle Tree, Little Wanderer, and Borrowed Light.

In Harmony with Homophones represents a daunting undertaking of building bridges of meaning between words that sound alike. But for this clever poet managing the mating game of homophones such as I’ll/aisle/isle seems to come naturally.  Part of the joy of reading the poems is anticipating just how he is going to harmonize each set.  And between the inaugural word of a poem such as “one” and the final word “won” come the observations and wisdom of a farmer, thinker, poet.

–Jeanette Willert, it was never Eden & Appalachia, Amour

Mike Wahl’s In Harmony with Homophones is a clever and entertaining scamper through some of the ironies and unexpected associations to be found in English. His well-controlled lines keep steady pace with the natural rhythm and music of the language as we relish its unexpected treasures and absurdities, all the while ranging over a broad panorama of subject matter and theme where Philosophy, Linguistics, Agriculture, and even some Theology come tied together by a durable strand of humor.

–James Miller Robinson, author of The Caterpillars at Saint Bernard, Boca del Río in the Afternoon, and The Empty Chair.