I posted this review at Amazon today.
Beautiful, Luminous Poems
L.L. Barkat, author of Stone Crossings: Finding Grace in Hidden Places, got it into her head to sit outside each day for a year, even if only for a short time. And she got this idea – in the dead of winter. Her timing may have been off – snow and sub-zero temperatures aren’t the most conducive conditions for a long-term plan – but she did it, and the result is InsideOut: Poems.
Divided by seasons, the poems explore the range of human experience – from tragedy (the death of a spouse; a mother and son’s last moments aboard an ill-fated airliner) to family and love. They also cover the senses – sight, taste, touch, hearing – in luxuriant, almost sensuous words and concepts.
From “In Your Dream”:
i.
I was the wind
that knocked at the glass, that tipped
the candle that burned the kitchen;
all that remained was a golden fork.
ii.
I was the sound
of shattering, of gold
chattering amidst the wild
wild flames.
Or try this untitled poem:
I have heard
they harvest wild rice
by hand,
bending stems
that rise from waters,
knocking them
for chocolate
seed.
(And now say both poems out loud.)
I read InsideOut twice, and the second time was almost overwhelming. These are beautiful, luminous poems, and I’m glad Barkat braved those snows. She’s given us a gift here, a great gift.
Photo by Sonia Joie, used with permission. Post by Glynn Young.
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Maureen Doallas says
haunting and beautiful lines
named, and not
about life and love and loss
and what is gained
(without saying)
once a heart
lets all the other senses
get a word in, too
nAncY says
i am the one
waiting
for the sound
of gravel under tires
the blowing of a horrn
signaling
a package
an arrival of words