Doing My Best to Shine, David James

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Doing My Best to Shine

poems by David James

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Doing My Best to Shine is a reference to the author’s overall philosophy—to give one hundred percent and make the most of every situation; to shine a little light on others and on the world, making a positive impact in one's own small way. The collection is separated into three parts—"A Common Theology,” “You Can’t Help but Wonder,” and “That Stunned Look on My Face.” Each speaks to some aspect of the author’s life in general: being a spiritual person searching for meaning; striving to be imaginative and creative; and suffering wisely the chaos in the world. Here David James offers his thoughts on some very familiar topics, shining his light on all of us.

POETRY / General

ISBN: 978-1-962082-54-9 (print; softcover; perfect bound)

LCCN: 2024948877

Released November 12, 2024

80 pages

Author Biography

Born and raised on the third coast, Michigan, David James has published eight books and has had more than thirty of his one-act plays produced in the United States, Ireland, and England. After working for forty-five years in higher education, he retired in 2022.

Endorsements

“‘If you can imagine doing it, then you have done it in the eyes of God,’ David James quotes Meister Eckhart in one of the poems in Doing My Best to Shine. By this yardstick, James has solved many of the larger questions of life and the universe in his wryly wistful poems. Reminiscent of Dennis O’Driscoll in their approaches to big themes without ever losing sight of the smallest particulars, James’s poems are a humane and humorous source of illumination.”
—David Wheatley, author of Child Ballad

“If you are traversing each day while feeling more and more often that it seems ‘Like God is smoking crack / in some basement, unable to claim // his kingdom or answer our prayers or even arrange / to have the fires put out,’ David James has got you. These masterful poems are paeans, sometimes rattled and even stunned, but unequivocal homage—to life. Take their wisdom and lyricism along with you.”
—Alison Swan, author of A Fine Canopy

Articles and Reviews