We're all jugglers. Each day we keep our tasks and responsibilities aloft. Jess Morgan's latest collection of poems, The Juggler's Song, focuses on this common experience of the modern human.
"My first book is called Too Many Hats, and it's a lot about juggling many different jobs or skillsets," says Morgan. "The Juggler's Song is still playing with that act of juggling, but in another way."
In one particular poem titled The Overwhelmed Juggler, Morgan writes about an experience of visiting a car mechanic and finding commonality with those fixing the vehicles, noting that they've all got their to-do lists as well. "I think that our culture encourages us to be one thing while realistically asks us to be everything and then dress it up as though we're only one of those things," says Morgan. "But I think if we had a more kind culture and one that was more human, I think it would acknowledge that we're multi-layered and many facets of a person."
Other highlights include many poems about Morgan's grandmother, as well as the tale of a sled dog named Pickles who decided to say "no", demonstrating a tool that perhaps doesn't get used enough in our overloaded daily lives.
The Juggler's Song will be available at Alt Creative in downtown Duluth, Zenith Bookstore in West Duluth, and it's available online at jesscribe.com.
Minnesota Reads is produced at The North 103.3 with funding provided in part by the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund.
