Rooks of Rumination Paperback – March 28, 2026

“If the word ‘delightful’ had not been cheapened by overuse, I’d apply it to David Stiller’s book of sonnets. Lest you consider the sonnet a tired old form, imagine that what you’re about to read had been written by John Updike. The use of language is so inventive, the rhymes so unforced, that what rises almost as a scent from the sonnet form is a repressed smile of bountiful good humor. This book is a revelation.”– Peter Coyote, actor, author, Zen Buddhist priest“Sequined with music and a panoramic view of the poet’s eye in all things, David Stiller brings to us 52 sonnets of wonder, philosophy, dichotomy, unity, and the mundane made beautiful: dogs, tadpoles, and the odd eccentricities of our lives. In Rooks of Rumination, you will find elegant and taut rhyme and rhythm: ‘Resisting indecisions as they spin, / I hesitate no more and plummet in.’ ... It’s not often you find both poetic skill and balanced sensitivity in a full-length collection. But you will find it here, and I think you will benefit greatly from reading Stiller. It may become a habit.”– Edward Nudelman, author of five poetry books, retired cancer research scientist, owner of many ducksIn his “Ode on a Grecian Urn,” Keats invites us to a posture of contemplative longing, where “Heard melodies are sweet, but those unheard / Are sweeter; therefore, ye soft pipes, play on[.]” This kōan-like encounter begins with the outer world perceived through our senses and teasingly tilts us toward veiled, inner questions of meaning and being. From that position, willingly captive, we might choose to tilt yet further toward more intrepid exploration, slipping eventually into one sidereal orbit or another, at least for the duration of an attentive pause—before wheeling off again.This volume of fifty-two sonnets traces the passage of a year through lenses of my personal experience. My hope is that these poems offer you a similar invitation to reflect, as the impressions and memories did me. Read more