An earnest outpouring of grief and memory despite occasional flaws.
A widower compiles a collection of older and newer poems.
Grams (Grandpa, I’m Afraid, 2018, etc.) begins with a frank introduction, in which he acknowledges taking his first steps in the healing process a year after his wife Linda’s death: “How do I fill this abyss? I have begun.” Looking back at 35 years together, the author calculates that they spent only 50 nights apart during 32 years of marriage. In this historical record of sorts—most writings date from the 1980s—he contextualizes each work with compelling background information. One distinctive feature of this volume is that a number of poems are written in Spanish; Grams explains, “Our secret code was our Spanish; she understood it well, and I could abandon all discretion with it.” These rapturous descriptions suggest a lover’s passion and an enthusiasm for expressing oneself in a second language, but there are occasional errors. While describing Linda’s height in “Cuando La Veo” (“When I See Her”), Grams mixes up “pulgadas” (inches) with “pulgares” (thumbs). Likewise, although the author most likely intended to write, “I felt as if I were dreaming of Venus” (“me sentí como si estuviera soñando con Venus”), he writes “sounded with Venus” (“sonado con” instead of “soñando con”). That said, he sets up some notable juxtapositions in both languages, such as “Caring anger” in “A Lonely Boy,” and “Los sueños están nevando” (“Dreams are snowing”) in “A sleepy night after Thanksgiving.” Readers gain insight into Linda’s personality when Grams observes, “A nose that smells burning toast yet withholds fiery disdain.” The author’s presentation of a 1984 love letter curiously combines writings from Lionel Richie and Edna St. Vincent Millay, and “A Child Is Born” offers a humorous take on differing reactions to news of pregnancy. Still, the depth of his loss permeates the book, as evidenced by a more recent poem, “When Emptiness Is Full”: “Meals taste like the sawdust of an oaken casket. / Sleep a sweltering eternity. A rose a crumbling parchment. / Holidays are eves of forever.” (Includes illustrations and seemingly candid black-and-white photos by Achterberg, whose subjects are unidentified.)
An earnest outpouring of grief and memory despite occasional flaws.Pub Date: Jan. 26, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-79601-215-6
Page Count: 96
Publisher: XlibrisUS
Review Posted Online: May 24, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2019
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
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
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