Miracles (anthology)

Miracles: Poems by Children of the English-speaking World is a 1966 poetry anthology edited by Richard Lewis.

Composition and publication

In 1961, Lewis began teaching elementary school creative writing classes, and became interested in children's poetry.[1] From 1964 to 1966, he traveled on a "world tour" of the English-speaking world and collected over three thousand poems by children.[1] The anthology contains two hundred of these, and was published by Simon & Schuster in 1966.[1] It includes poetry from the United States, New Zealand, Kenya, Uganda, Canada, England, Australia, India, and the Philippines.[1]

The book was discussed in the December 1967 Horn Book Magazine, alongside two poems reprinted with permission by Simon & Schuster.[2]

Legacy

The 1970 experimental song "Miracles" in transcendental album First Moog Quartet likely honors the book; it contains multiple instances of spoken-word poetry. The song includes a musical round of "My Brain".[3]

The Annabel Laurance poem "My Brain" has been discussed and quoted by musicians, poets, and psychologists for over 50 years.[4][5] These include composer Gershon Kingsley, psychedelic band Perth County Conspiracy, poet Louis Dudek, and pscyhoanalyst Peter Levine.

References

  1. ^ a b c d "Richard Listened". The New York Times. November 6, 1966. Retrieved 2025-11-21.
  2. ^ "Wayback Machine" (PDF). web.archive.org. {{cite web}}: Cite uses generic title (help)
  3. ^ Gershon Kingsley's First Moog Quartet - First Moog Quartet, 1970, retrieved 2025-10-06
  4. ^ "Dr. Peter Levine on Waking the Tiger". Beyond Theory Podcast. Retrieved 2025-10-06.
  5. ^ "The Greatest Hits Revisited #3: Ep 7: Word Magic with Laurel Airica". Listen Notes. 2023-12-13. Retrieved 2025-10-06.