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Poetry Book Review 4 – Vision, and other Things We Hide From

Welcome to our  4th poetry book review. Vision, and Other Things We Hide From is by Samantha Terrell and is expected to be released by Potter’s Grove Press on the 9th March 2021. Click here to see full book description.

Vision, and other Things We Hide from was a very enjoyable read. This poetry collection deals with social issues in society and it also felt like it explored growing older and becoming ourselves. It reminds us we are a tiny part of the universe and I experienced feelings of regret at what capitalism has become. Vision, and Other Things We Hide From takes us through a contemplative and human journey. 

Rated: 4 Jumping Dolphins

About the author:

Samantha is a widely published American poet. Her work can be found in many fine online and in-print publications such as: Dissident Voice, Dove Tales by Writing for Peace, the Ebola chapbook by West Chester University (PA), Fevers of the Mind, In Parentheses, Lucky Jefferson, Nine Cloud Journal, Peeking Cat Poetry, Poetry Quarterly and others. Her website can be found here.

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Poetry Book Review 3 – Borrowings of the Shan Van Vocht

Poetry Book Review 1 – Noir

Poetry Book Review 3 – Borrowings of the Shan Van Vocht

“Our only study is the wet. Only loss is the sun’s grope overhead.”Bog Body Murmurs.

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About the Book:

Borrowings of the Shan Van Vocht by Catherine Moore was published April 2020 by Unsolicited Press. This collection of prose poems explores lost voices of the soil-mummified nameless, whose bodies are recovered from bog lands. The ‘borrowings’ in Borrowings of the Shan Van Vocht are Bog Bodies—naturally preserved corpses— displayed sometimes like sideshow curiosities in museums worldwide. These bodies are titled after the bog, melting and churning, which exhumed them. 

Borrowings of the Shan Van Vocht by Catherine Moore isn’t just poetry about corpses found in bogs around Europe it is about women. Their histories and struggles before they were hanged, murdered or died in tragic accidents. They are voices from the past echoing our own lives in the present.

“The disappeared make no sound, only whispered in the weeds and grass.” The Wind Concurs

Catherine Moore has managed to humanise the dead with emotional clarity and beautifully simple prose. Some of the stories told are sad and lonely. Others died violent deaths. If you are looking for poetry outside the norm Borrowings of the Shan Van Vocht is for you.

Rated: 5 Jumping Dolphins

About the author:

Catherine Moore is the author of several collections including the latest from Unsolicited Press, Borrowings of the Shan Van Vocht. She’s also the co-editor of FIOLET & WING: An Anthology of Domestic Fabulist Poetry. A Hambidge fellow, her work is widely published and her honors include Yemassee Journal’s Fiction Prize, the Southeast Review’s Poetry Prize, and inclusion in the juried BEST SMALL FICTIONS. Catherine holds a Master of Fine Arts in creative writing and she teaches. http://www.catherinemooreauthor.com 

Facebook: @authorcatherinemoore Twitter: @CatPoetic

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 other posts you may like

Poetry Book Review – Noir

How to read poetry

Sea Scented Poetry – Some Updates

Good day all, I hope you’re all staying safe during these times and that the cold winter is treating you well. I wanted to do a quick update post.

I’m running weekly poetry prompts every Thursday on twitter and would like to thank those of you that took part in our first sea themed poetry prompt. You can see the archive of prompts on our sea poet page.

I’m expecting to be receiving a few a collections to review over the next month and these will be added to the blog.

Recent posts on here have included an article for people new to reading poetry titled How to Read Poetry and reviews of T S Eliots The Wasteland and other Poems and Derek R Kings Noir

If you’re a poet looking for reviews of your poetry collection, I’m now accepting requests and you can view my review policy here.

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How to Read Poetry

Welcome to Sea Scented Poetry’s first blog post of 2021. We hope you all had a lovely Christmas period despite the challenges we’re all facing.

I’ve been writing poetry off and on for a good few years now and one thing I hear from family members is “I don’t know how to read poetry.” 

Ok, so how do you read poetry? To put it simply, just read it like you would any other piece of writing. Ignore line breaks, taking a short pause at a comma and a longer pause at a full stop. 

If it sounds flat reading in your head, read it out loud. Does it sound different? Does reading it quietly benefit your understanding of the poem or does shouting the words out change the meaning. The real power of poetry comes from being read aloud.

Also, if you’re struggling to understand a poem’s meaning or make sense of its metaphors, stop trying to understand and enjoy the words for the sounds they make.

Here are a few links 

Bliss – Lali A. Love –

My own poetry can be heard here

And there are hundreds of poems to listen to at The Poetry Channel

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Poetry Book Review 2 – The Wasteland

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“The yellow fog that rubs its back upon the window-panes,

The yellow smoke that rubs its muzzle on the window-panes”

The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock

This week I’m reviewing T S Eliot’s The Wasteland and other poems published by Faber and Faber.

I’ve been meaning to check out T S Eliot’s poetry for a while now and starting my book blog has given me the perfect excuse. 

I found this to be a bit of a mixed bag. Some lines and phrases were very effective, at times we get a sense of despair and grief at other times I felt like I was being given a religious sermon. Some highlights are the language used in The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock. The rhymes were unintrusive and his descriptions were elegant.

“April is the cruellest month”

The Wasteland

The opening lines set the tone for the Waste Land and we are constantly accompanied by a sense of dread and a longing for a better time throughout our reading.

Overall, Eliot tantalised me with his descriptions and emotions yet pushed me away with what felt at times like an overbearing preacher.

If you are a poet looking for your collection to be reviewed check my review policy here.

If you’re a book blogger, my own collection Love Poem to the Sea is available as a pdf copy to review.

Rated: 3 Jumping Dolphins

Other posts you may like:

Book review – Noir by Derek R King

Top 5 Long Poems

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Poetry Book Review

Noir by Derek R King

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Noir (or as the night comes) was published back in October 2020 by 8N Publishing and in a short time has gained the Literary Titan book award. Derek R King’s next poetry book is expected to be released in Spring 2021. 

You want dark

I can oblige,

I am the dark.

Welcome, Derek R King

I didn’t quite know what to expect when Derek sent me a review copy, too often books that are lauded as being dark are quite fluffy, particularly when you’ve been a long time horror reader such as I.

A single, solitary

water drop falls

Noir shakes a black veil at you before smothering you. The first section of the book is much more about our personal mental health struggles. Then, as we enter the second section we are literally pushed off the precipice and on a freefall through the darkest pits of humanity and depravation. 

Streets that run with anger

Streets that run with hate

Streets, Derek R King

Noir’s poetic rhythms and rhymes whisper to you but slowly build up a thick layer of darkness as we move through its recurring themes of internal mental struggles and social dystopia such as addiction. It examines the topics in society that have been left unchecked for too long. It’s not always a comfortable read but there are moments of hope and companionship and that makes this true dark poetry.

Head over to Amazon to check it out. You can also find Derek R King on twitter

Rating:

5 Jumping Dolphins

Other posts you may like:

Top 5 Long Poems

Poetry Book Review – T S Eliot – The Wasteland and Other Poems

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Top 5 Long Poems

As a poet myself, I prefer to keep my poems shorter in length and many of them are micro-poems but there a few long poems out there that I can read and re-read.

Please note: links marked with * denote affiliate links

In no particular order as I will be here all day deciding on the number 1 spot.

The Highwayman by Alfred Noyes*. I stumbled across The Highwayman online a long time ago. I love the storyline, the beats and repetitions work well. 

Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Samuel Taylor Coleridge. What can I say? The drama of being out at sea, making one huge mistake. The curse of immortality.

The Raven by Edgar Allen Poe*. You can feel the narrator’s desperation and frustration.

The Listeners by Walter De La Mare. Suspenseful and atmospheric.

Tulips by Sylvia Plath*. The vulnerability when we are sick. Her acute attention to detail and her awareness of her surroundings.

I hope this list gives you some reading pleasure. Let me know in the comments what some of your favourite poems are.

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Sea Scented Poetry

Sea Scented poetry is starting life out as a poetry review blog. I hope to have the first book review published by next weekend with an initial schedule of one review every two weeks.

In time, I hope to develop this little space into an online resource to bring poets and readers together.

Play around with the site and leave a comment if anything looks odd or broken or you want to tell me that you love it.

Stay safe out there.