Affliction resolves into hope and light in this cathartic collection.
Hugueney (Poems for the Soul, 2016) offers an elegantly crafted “journey of self-exploration through poetry.”
In a recent issue of the New Yorker, Ruth Franklin wrote about the persistent popularity of poet Mary Oliver, arguing that Oliver’s strength is her “accessibility: she writes blank verse in a conversational style, with no typographical gimmicks.” Reading this description, it’s easy to see why Hugueney calls Oliver “beloved,” because the younger poet’s verse can be described in very similar terms. Here, she writes about the elder writer’s influence: “I do not have woods to stroll through, as beloved / poet Mary Oliver, but there are patches of green where I live / and the smell of wet earth, chirping birds, / and a gentle breeze to lose (or is it find?) myself in.” This is Hugueney at her best—unpretentious, honest, limpid. This is her second volume, and it shows her rounding into form as a writer. Although she tackles a variety of topics in this effort, two stand out: the challenge of raising an autistic child and the struggle against a low-grade sorrow that she calls “the fog.” Hugueney has two kids, and the youngest is autistic. She writes, “Autism takes its toll. / Only the strong will be given this challenge. / So many years of feeding, sweeping, swiping, / washing, brushing. / It’s worse when I’m alone with my son. / No one to laugh with, to share with.” Sometimes, that toll seems too heavy to bear; this, it appears, is when the fog rolls in: “As I swipe the elegant marble counter / with my soggy, faded washcloth, / I suddenly feel the fog creeping in again.” One hears the creep of depression in lines like these, but it’s heartening to read an author who’s willing to write so openly about the real emotional challenges of parenthood. Further, the collection’s journey ends with hope for the speaker and for her family. A late poem reads, “I am on the right path. / Angels are lighting my way right now. / I just have to keep hold of my compass. / A new beginning is always possible.” After finishing this book, one can’t help but wish the author well as she continues on her own path.
Affliction resolves into hope and light in this cathartic collection.Pub Date: June 24, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-5043-8275-5
Page Count: 60
Publisher: BalboaPress
Review Posted Online: Jan. 2, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2018
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
An emotional, captivating Christian story in verse.
Heidish (A Misplaced Woman, 2016, etc.) presents an account of St. Francis of Assisi’s life, as told from his father’s perspective in poetic form.
St. Francis is known as a saint who believed in living the Gospel, gave sermons to birds, and tamed a wolf. Over the course of 84 poems, Heidish tells her own fictionalized version of the saint’s journey. In his youth, Francesco is an apprentice of his father, Pietro Bernardone, a fabric importer. The boy is a sensitive dreamer and nature lover who sees “natural holiness in every living thing.” As an adult, Francesco decides to pursue knighthood, but God warns him to “Go back, child / Serve the master.” He joins the Church of San Damiano, steals his father’s storeroom stock, and sells it to rebuild the church. His furious father chains him in the cellar, and the bishop orders Francesco to repay the debt. Afterward, father and son stop speaking to each other; Francesco becomes a healer of the sick and a proficient preacher. After failing to broker a peace agreement during wartime, Francesco falls into depression and resigns his church position. He retreats to the mountains and eventually dies; it’s only then that Pietro becomes a true follower of St. Francis: “You are the father now and I the son / learning still what it means to be a saint,” he says. Heidish’s decision to tell this story from Pietro’s perspective is what makes this oft-told legend seem fresh again. She uses superb similes and metaphors; for example, at different points, she writes that St. Francis had eyes like “lit wicks” and a spirit that “shone like a clean copper pot.” In another instance, she describes the Church of San Damiano as a place in which “walls crumbled / like stale dry bread.” Following the poems, the author also offers a thorough and engaging historical summary of the real life of St. Francis, which only adds further context and depth to the tale.
An emotional, captivating Christian story in verse.Pub Date: Feb. 23, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-9905262-1-6
Page Count: 146
Publisher: Dolan & Associates
Review Posted Online: April 19, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2018
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A poignant collection by a talented poet still in search of one defining voice.
A debut volume of poetry explores love and war.
Divided into four sections, Osaki’s book covers vast emotional territories. Section 1, entitled “Walking Back the Cat,” is a reflection on youthful relationships both familial and romantic. “Dying Arts,” the second part, is an examination of war and its brutal consequences. But sections three and four, named “Tradecraft” and “Best Evidence” respectively, do not appear to group poems by theme. The collection opens with “My Father Holding Squash,” one of Osaki’s strongest poems. It introduces the poet’s preoccupation with ephemera—particularly old photographs and letters. Here he describes a photo that is “several years old” of his father in his garden. Osaki muses that an invisible caption reads: “Look at this, you poetry-writing / jackass. Not everything I raise is useless!” The squash is described as “bearable fruit,” wryly hinting that the poet son is considered somewhat less bearable in his father’s eyes. Again, in the poem “Photograph,” Osaki is at his best, sensuously describing a shot of a young woman and the fleeting nature of that moment spent with her: “I know only that I was with her / in a room years ago, and that the sun filtering / into that room faded instantly upon striking the floor.” Wistful nostalgia gives way to violence in “Dying Arts.” Poems such as “Preserve” present a battleground dystopia: “Upturned graves and craters / to swim in when it rains. / Small children shake skulls / like rattles, while older ones carve rifles / out of bone.” Meanwhile, “Silver Star” considers the act of escorting the coffin of a dead soldier home, and “Gun Song” ruminates on owning a weapon to protect against home invasion. The language is more jagged here but powerfully unsettling nonetheless. The collection boasts a range of promising poetic voices, but they do not speak to one another, a common pitfall found in debuts. “Walking Back the Cat” is outstanding in its refined attention to detail; the sections following it read as though they have been produced by two or more other poets. Nevertheless, this is thoughtful, timely writing that demands further attention.
A poignant collection by a talented poet still in search of one defining voice.Pub Date: Jan. 31, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-984198-32-7
Page Count: 66
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: June 26, 2018
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
