Staring Into the Sun - AN INSIGHTFUL GATHERING OF WORDS
By D. Blankenship (The Ozarks) - See all my reviews
There is very little objective about poetry; any poetry. When a piece is read the individual reading it either gets it or they don't. Twenty people can read the same poem and when you talk to them and ask of their emotions, what they received or did not receive from the work, chances are almost certain that you will twenty different answers. Some of those twenty will get it; some of those twenty will not. So it is with all works of art.
When I read this small volume of poetry by Joshua Fields I thought of a garden. Not one of my many flower gardens, no far from it...I thought of a perfect garden. A garden were every plant, every bloom, every twig and branch has been perfectly placed and balanced with their neighbor and those in-turn are in perfect harmony with all the other confined members of their plant tribe in their given space. As my mind's eye flowed from left to right, each single growing thing complemented the other and the first flower somehow blended perfectly with the last in my sight. No unnecessary clutter, each plant making a sparse statement of its own, yet added together made up a whole flowing, rather pensive yet panoramic statement, light in some areas, profound in others.
Such is the work found in this collection, but rather than plant and flower, bush and twig, we have words.
Each offering consists of a conversation between a man and a woman. Each offering has been honed down to the barest bone...not fat here! The poet has the obvious ability to take one single word, place it perfectly in the perfect sequence and tell a story that it would take most writers several paragraphs to tell. Each of these carefully prepared and placed words complement the next from the beginning to the last.
The theme, and yes indeed there is a theme here, is love. I am not talking about the pie in the sky, thunderbolt-star struck-hearts a-beating- lost in the wilderness type of love, no I am referring to the every day kind of love between two individuals; different individuals with different needs, wants, attitudes and perspectives who have bonded together to make a whole. A simple glance or twitch of an eyebrow can tell oh so much. The mundane and the ability to make it through the everyday "stuff" that surrounds us all and still allows us to be enthralled, comfortable and remain ones self, yet at the same time being apart of another is indeed true love and the author has captured this perfectly.
Love we find can be captured with sparse words in a shopping trip, packing for a trip, glancing at a baby, being different, being the same and in the contemplation of shoes.
Strong words this poet has used; true words. He has remarkable insight to the human condition and strong insight into the heart of all good relationships.
I would strongly suggest that these short poems be read one after the other from start to finish. Even though each is able to stand on its own merit, reading each offering as a part of the whole brings an overall perspective to the work that would be missed if each were read one at a time. I also strongly suggest that the work be read several times...each reading will bring more insight...trust me.
Don't let this one get by you...it is a true treat!
Don Blankenship
The Ozarks