Satisfied With Havoc by Jo McDougall

Former Arkansan Jo McDougall's Satisfied With Havoc, is a collection of simple yet elegant poems. All are about life; some are about death. "To My Daughter, Who Refuses To Meet Me Halfway" was inspired by her daughter, who died of cancer. In "On That Beautiful Shore," McDougall recalls her mother and wonders how the dead fare in "the sweet bye and bye." And there's the four-line poem titled "Watching A Grandson Play Little League Ball The Day Ted Williams Died."

McDougall does not waste words or images. She writes, says what others only think. In "Oaks," for example, she remembers the wake after her daughter's death and writes, "When friends came,/ bringing food and sympathy,/ I asked them to speak of my daughter/ in the present tense.' When I visited her grave,/ the oak trees,/ casting their ferny shadows,/ set me straight."

Enough said....