A Book Review Of “All The Best” by Steve Wheeler

So many poetry books can be one shot wonders… perused then buried within those old dusty bookshelf graves. Then there are books that come along that irresistibly beckon for continual enjoyment and inspiration. Some may even offer sophisticated references as to how writing premiere poetry is really done. Behold…! All Of The Best” is THAT book.

This masterful collection from accomplished author, philanthropist, publisher, and retired university professor Steve Wheeler spotlights his most brilliant works from 2020-2023. Just shy of 300 pages, this book lavishly lives and breathes! It both whispers and shouts! It represents an epiphany of modern poetry… an absolutely fresh wind of wonders.

The names of chapters, portrayed in striking Latin and Greek terms such as “Vita et Mors” (Life and Death) or “Nepios” (Small Child), create lascivious layers of potent secrets laid out throughout the book that Wheeler has become so well known for.

Thunderous themes branch out into exuberant impressions to create a tempestuous tapestry of opulent observations. 

The theme of revering innocence of children always seems to remain closest to Steve’s heart. Of little babies, Wheeler writes “… your life is precious pure and new, heaven is made of ones like you” (Suffer Little Children). In “World Of Wonders” he displays a plethora of his impressive adventures traveling the world, yet humbly concludes with “… no wonder of the world could so assuage my darkest fears as the wonder of a new born child”. 

The poem Yasmina is a hidden gem. Yasmina is a pet hen that a young Syrian boy innocently and obliviously mourns the loss for in becoming a necessary dinner…. it truly represents the best of “the best”.

This crafty balance of his extensive experience, with an impassioned representation of the human condition, make up but one facet of the author’s dense repertoire. Wheeler possesses a penchant for assonance and alliteration like no other… a metaphor master supreme. Steve becomes a wizard of poetic tools and devices to be learned from and to celebrate with this massive monument to his talent.

He also repeatedly turns a delightful phrase with pointed lines like “I’m having the time of your life” (from Borrowed Time), or “I have a way with words and words have their way with me”.  (from The Poet).

His poems dance upon extensive topics of what he refers to in the book description as “love, faith, nature, war and peace, dreams and nightmares, fantasy, science, and travel”. 

He expounds on the ethereal to the absurd with seamless grace, navigates realms of pop culture and lost love, from divine revelations to everyday Joe observations, with a tactile turn of every dreamy page.

On being rich Wheeler writes “… he drank like a fish and slept like a cat, with golden cushions wherever he sat..” (On Top Of The World). Of related excessively privileged revelry, he reveals “… you pays your money, drinks your beer, but it’ll all end up in tears if your actions make you disappear from the eternal inventory.” (Gardening Leave).

Poems on the homeless read “… the earth shall inherit the meek” (Homeless People).

So many inner city issues and observations shimmer in light and dark shades here. The poem Urban Transgression is a sequenced ambitious concept work which always comes first to my mind with this book. Its performance quality, flow, and rhythmic conceptualization accentuate a delightfully frightful rouges gallery of everyday souls. It is an incredibly raucous rant about divergent directions of characters and classes that encapsulates the imagination.

Of war he records “…although grandfather bravely soldiered on, He never made it to the river Sonne” (Star Of Mons), “… the bar will be open till we’re all dead on the floor, and the last person standing will be standing no more” (What Are You Wearing For World War III). 

Of art, he rhythmically writes with wry musicality “Earth takes to the floor with the moon, Moving to the rhythm of the old Nep-tune.” (Music Of The Spheres). Of the environment “This is the final log for what it's worth, of our good ship planet Earth” (Still Writing As The Ship Goes Down).

As a man of God and sincere faith, Steve devotionally reaffirms his Christianity over and over successfully throughout. On the divine purpose he writes full of the spirit, “… they’ll never find life while His truth they deny”. 

Yet his watchful gaze also encompasses the entire picture as well. On misdirected churches he prays “… help us lord, to build a church where people love to flock, as they visit our museum, a hearse made out of rock.” (Stained Glass Avatars).

Of love sweet love he covers both ends of the fidelity fence, starting with everyday adoration “… when it’s all said and done, tell me what’s in your head, show me stories you read ,then take me to bed” (Give Me). 

Of domestic squabbles “Best of friends now two of a kind , you in your neck brace, and I in mine” (Fight Club), or “You’re the one that love (and hate) the very most”. He perfectly wraps darling love up in this beautifully ending sonnet couplet “For you, oh rise and setting of my sun, I cannot say how deep my love may run” (from the glowing love poem How Deep).

A comprehensive review of this magnitude could never be possible with the brevity of a simple blog like this. An entire book could be written about the utilization of Steve Wheeler's playbook of advanced executions. Dizzying amounts of essays could be recorded on studying the many incorporations of all the effective tools in his poetic tool belt. Antithesis, paradox, allegory, metonymy, etc… from the humorous to the sublime… at times both… this one has it all.

“All The Best” sits on my desk as an ever accessible roadmap of expression and application that I now and forever will refer to for inspiration in my own writing. It constitutes everything about the street poet soul I have always aspired to capture. 

This book is not only a reference guide of inspiration for writers. I simply believe it contains some of the greatest contributions to modern poetry to date. If you are a writer, or just simply a lover of entertainingly provocative and beautiful poetry … you need this book. Period. Ad Infinitum.

Matt Elmore