Title: JAD – A Poem
Author: James Richard Hansen
Publisher: AuthorHouse
ISBN: 9781418493332
Pages: 64
Genre: Poetry
Reviewer: Beth Adams

Read Book Review

As with any book of poetry, often you must read it two or multiple times to absorb a clearer understanding of the emotions scribed, however with JAD – A Poem, by author and poet James Richard Hansen, I clearly understood the love embedded in the prose during my initial read. It is a beautiful and heartfelt celebration of love for his best friend, Joann Antoinette DeVito. On the dedication page, Hansen acknowledges “she saved my life and for whom I would give my life,” then quoting John 15:13 “No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friend.”

Humble yet revealing, with respect and appreciation, Hansen brings out the many roles a person has by being a child, parent, lover and friend, each different in the various tangents of a relationship, yet the same with the inner light glowing in whiteness of one’s soul. One of my favorite examples of this is in the chapter titled “Child,” where Hansen writes, “The sun begins to slide toward tomorrow, / so we walk home. / Together, inside ourselves, / we will always be home.” It brought my thoughts to my own feelings of always being “home” wherever I am as long as I am with my own special person.

Beautifully embellished with nature, a rather long excerpt but one which I read many times is the story about deer drinking water from a stream. “I see deer drinking from a small stream, / Stones lining the stream / seem to act as sentries, / protecting the pure water / from human predators / and letting life glisten / like the stones themselves. / When the deer notice me, / they do not run, / but gaze at me with insight, / as if they are seeing / a harmless resident of the woods. / Then they return to their water, / and quietly walk away.” We all are captivated by the stare of a deer’s eyes, wondering what the animal is thinking…fear? Flight? Threat? It’s that pregnant fleeting moment each of us have had at some point in our lives which we remember vividly. A moment without words nor sounds which seem to last much longer than it actually was.

One line had me thinking of the juxtaposition of the adjectives. Hansen wrote, “We feel each other’s eyes, we see each other’s hearts.” I thought actually we would “see” each other’s eyes, and “feel” each other’s hearts, but the reversal made me stop to ponder and ask myself why the author would write it this way, realizing that its intent was, I do believe, to have readers pause, just as I did made me enjoy the uses of his poetic license.

JAD – A Poem, is a collection of feelings, written with the inherent understanding that God placed us here for just these reasons. Respecting life’s transitions of phases, from the mortal to those of immortality and eternity, James Richard Hansen has created original poetry to bring readers into a peaceful and relaxing space while paging his book. This is a wonderful gift to a loved one, a Valentine, and even to yourself to enjoy multiple times when wanting to create moments of pensive appreciation for the gifts of God.