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Front cover of Daydreams: A Book of Sonnets by James R. Ivey, Sr. Back cover of Daydreams, printed with the title sonnet, Daydreams
The back cover carries the title sonnet, “Daydreams.” Select either cover to see it full size.

Second edition, 2026

Daydreams

A Book of Sonnets

James R. Ivey, Sr. · Edited by James R. Ivey

Daydreams gathers the collected poems of James R. Ivey, Sr. (1942-1992): sailor, salesman, scholar of classic English literature, husband, father, and a poet from the age of eight, when he won his first award. Over the next forty-two years he wrote more than two hundred poems, most of them sonnets.

The collection is arranged in seven books:

  • The Reluctant Muse
  • Love's Embrace
  • Life's Reflections
  • Into the Light
  • Historical Satire
  • The Shadow Self
  • Letters

Love, faith, family, history, humor, and the quieter corners of a life are all here, in a voice that is plainspoken, musical, and often funny. Father and son began editing the poems together in 1988; his son finished the work. Daydreams was first published in 2017 and honored with a CIPA EVVY Book Award.

Paperback · 267 pages · 6 × 9 in · ISBN 979-8-9820942-1-6


About the press

Kestrel Compass Press publishes the books of James R. Ivey and, with Daydreams, the poems of his father, in print and for Kindle.

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