“My favorites among these poems remind us that ‘flesh is still the thing, that, no matter how much the body changes, its frail beau- ty is eternal. And not just our physical bodies, either, but the world we live in: thus poems as different as ‘The School on Rue des Rosiers, which recalls the Holocaust, and ‘St. Paul’s Chapel, written in the wake of 9/11, remind the reader that after cruelty and death come music, dancing, the rebuilding of lives. ‘I’ve now lived long enough/ to hold that both good and bad/ have their places in the world, writes Johnson, and from the mingled cries of the drowned and the saved he makes a haunting, unforgettable poetry.”
—David Kirby
“J. Chester Johnson’s poems possess an energy and a zest for the made thing, that, as he wittily states, tames, yes, the rage but also the roving, ravishing intellect of the mind’s hunger. I am even more convinced of his sensuous ability to compose lines that delight even as they articulate the well-spring of joy and pain from which all life issues, when Ihear such lines on volunteering at Ground Zero, NYC: ‘hands as stars, hands as stripes, hands as a flag. Undoubtedly, this is a work headed for literary permanence in our collective ear.”
—Major Jackson
“What an accomplishment it is.”
—Molly Peacock
“These poems, like al authentic ones, bear witness to a truth.”
—Edward Mendelson
“It’s a pleasure to read the work of a poet who knows what a poem is. What my memory treasures most after a good reading of this collection are the wise and often playful quatrains plus one of the most penetrating observations in poetry and poetics; early in the book, closing the poem, ‘Irony at the Armchair,’ we are told that ‘irony is fantasy under control? Yes.”
—Miler Williams
“With J. Chester Johnson, objectivity and passion coexist naturally. And language, rather than abstracting experience, breathes a direct connection to our tragedies, pettiness, bones and sweat and exaltation.”
-Jean Mellichamp Milliken, The Lyric
“There is a world of verbal wit and lyric intensity in J. Chester Johnson’s St. Paul’s Chapel &Selected Shorter Poems. Nothing under the sun is alien to Johnson’s sharp eye for the telling detail and ear finely tuned to the necessary music of true poetry. His poem for the church used as a shrine to the victims of the September 11th attacks, ‘St. Paul’s Chapel, is one of the finest, most poignant, and faith affirming on this terrible subject that I’ve ever read.”
-Robert Cooperman
“Chester Johnson’s stunning book of poems, St. Paul’s Chapel and Selected Shorter Poems, is a powerful collection. Johnson writes with such elegance and honesty that his poems are riveting, hard to put down. I recommend this book wholeheartedly.
—Elizabeth Powell
“Chester Johnson’s verse will be remembered, if for no other reason than the final lines of the poem,’ The School on Rue des Rosiers’: … And the greatest fall always dances near the greatest dancer.'”
—Red Hawk
“Chester Johnson has crafted these poems-over years and miles-with a precision and economy one might not expect in poems that also sing so beautifully. They have a jewel-like spiritual depth: facets and illuminations reveal- ing themselves as one gazes, new ones appearing upon re-reading.”
– Barbara Crafton, Episcopal priest and author
“Poet Johnson, author of ten chapbooks, has now published a collection of poems-some old, some new, but all riveting-for those who appreciate the poetic rhythm of our language. The poems are about people, places, and ideas. And readers of the poetry of today will find St. Paul’s Chapel & Selected Shorter Poems a thoroughly enjoy- able read that they can pick up and read again and again.”
—Atr Bounds, editor The Pegasus Review
“These delightful poems are self-contained, succinct and declarative, admirable for their shapeliness and humor, their aptness and originality.”
-John E. Smelcer, poetry editor Rosebud
“Chester Johnson’s short poems might be rehearsals for the intelligent person’s conversation with God. By turns playful, questioning, earthy, fearful, and often wry, they dwell on the paradox, as he puts it, of w’ hy we choose to be beyond what we understand.'”
-Pamela McCorduck
“As I read through it slowly, I find myself engrossed in the poetry of it all. It’s a wonderful, well-done book of poetry.”
-Ray Foreman, editor Clark Street Review
“The selection of poems was a delight. The verse contains crystalline moments for the reader. Still life or heroic verse, both are equally captivating.”
-Elen Shull, editor Palo Alto Review
“Gifted. A fine talent for the phrase.”
—Alen Tate
“My reaction to (Johnson’s) work, wholehearted as it was, did not come near to envisioning the scope and quality, the prodigality of (Johnson’s) accelerating career.”
—Wiliam Stafford
“The collection will please the many people who enjoy twists of language, clever phrases and rhymes, and wily punch lines. Lively, entertaining; and with courage in its lightness.”
-Constance Hunting, poet, editor The Puckerbrush Review
“Wherever my gaze fell I read good lines.”
-Isaac B. Singer, Nobel Prize Winner for Literature
“Truly a master of the difficult art of compression.”
—Albert J. Guerard
When the staff editors and I at Hawai’i Pacific Review decided to publish J. Chester Johnson’s poem, ‘Fear of Flying, we were impressed with his ability to bring nature into the scenario of the 9/11 catastrophe with his refer- ence to birds in the first stanza, which was rather unexpected. We were also impressed with his ability to conjure up images of flight and tie them to the unfortunate victims of 9/11 who chose to jump from the building rather than endure the holocaust inside. And amidst all this, a sudden, fleeting fascination with ‘A swatch of cellophane (swelling) heavenward, higher still, followed by the poignant question, ‘How does it happen some things/ Rise air- tucked without ties,/Staves, or other fast catch-mes?’Then, the final question that we al fear to ask: ‘Flying is good for business, we’re told,/But is it good for us?’ brings together a fascinatingly composed poem, not unlike many of his others. Johnson’s poems demonstrate his very canny ability to turn an unexpected phrase, his wry sense of humor, and his penchant for getting at the heart of problematic situations that we all would do well to ponder.”
-Patrice M. Wilson, editor Hawaii Pacific Review
“J. Chester Johnson’s succinct, direct style is a bracing tonic for those whose sensibilities and sensitivities have been battered by the obfuscations of the modern vernacular. His work is full of spirit, heart, and a sly humor based in delight. Seldom does plain sense seem so uncommon. The reader is better and wiser for the experience. One hopes the wide cultural world will discover and embrace this new found land of enchantment.”
-Phil Wagner, ICONOCLAST Magazine
The signature poem for St. Paul’s Chapel & Selected Shorter Poems had already become iconic before this volume was published as a result of the poem being the memento card for years for the thousands of weekly visitors and pilgrims who came to Ground Zero’s St. Paul’s Chapel, which served as the relief center for recovery workers after the 9/11 terrorists’ attacks and where J. Chester Johnson volunteered. Within its pages, the reader discovers nearly forty years of composition of short verse, ranging from the enthrallment of the poet’s youth to a more balanced and consequential viewpoint found in the language of a maturing poet. St. Paul’s Chapel & Selected Shorter Poems is a story of passage and an impactful journey with extraordinary verse accenting the odyssey in all its abundant and distinctly American phases – from the Mississippi River Delta and the Civil Rights Movement of Johnson’s youth to the horrific effects of the 9/11 terrorism that he experienced firsthand with much to be read in penetrating and exquisite short poems falling in between.