‘Misery begins at Home’ by Rachel Bond, Marianne L Daniels, John Darwin and Winston Plowes, a review
Books like this I think in more than a few ways are like buying compilation records which feature new artists who do a few tracks each and can be used as a nice introduction to their work.
I did the other approach recently with my book ‘Return to Kemptown’ where I did it as a slim introduction to my works almost as a short album, but here in each of the 4 writer’s cases, each one a good writer (and with the expectation of Marianne who I haven’t seen yet but have heard she is excellent) excellent readers too, they all have selected a short selection of their own work so it comes together as 4 EP’s.
On the four writers, I first met Rachel Bond through Bolton Punk poet Jeff Dawson Aka Jeffarama last year, although she did also attend the writing workshop I used to co-run for a bit ‘Trio Writers’ and Rachel’s work has always impressed with it’s technical nature where she would often add very serious topics to her pieces which for me has always given it a very haunting feel.
Rachel’s poetry for me is possibly at it’s best during this short collection on pieces like ‘Barkless Trees’ which contains superb bits like ‘Pricks of lights fought for cover in that swell / Of a faraway deep near a land once I fell’ which contain that much detail in such a short bit, it makes you read over and over.
Other bits like ‘Death’ while on one first glimpses ‘death curls up to me as I sleep / and presses his skull into my temple’ is a adapt for a title with the collection title, but Rachel cleverly twists the piece at the end with a sense of freedom like memory, which is spellbinding I think.
The second poet out of the four, Marianne L Daniels is the only one out of the four I have never met or heard her perform, but I have being reading a blog where her writing is featured for some time and have always being impressed by what she has wrote for some time now, always found it filled with a lyrical content that is never pretentious.
Speaking as a person who has a BA Joint Honours in Creative Writing, I know from experience how many training and help it can give you with your writing, but I know also from experience that while doing a dissertation for example in Poetry, I know five other people at university who did poetry dissertations and totally failed to grasp the basic point of what is good and what is bad poetry, so whenever you mention you have a masters for example in poetry, it can have the counterbalance of putting people off a little from reading your work.
Marianne’s poetry however does not have that affect in particular on pieces like ‘Picking up a broken mirror’ which contains a incredible image right at the end of the piece ‘that curse of the feather stroking the chainsaw’ which made me shiver.
My favourite piece of hers from the ‘The house outside and other stories’ contains enough detail in it that could probably fill a novel or at least four or five poems, instead she contains detail in 19 lines that I could almost give my left arm for with lines like ‘and is a human in holocaust’ which is a harrowing last line.
John Darwin who follows after that is I met last summer again through Jeffarama (on his busking for beer tour) in Salford in the summer of 2009 and have always found a amazing gentleman who can do a amazing trick with a few pints of beer (worth watching believe me) and then step up onto stage and blow you away almost literally with his poetry.
John’s poetry often to me is miserable and bleak but in is summed up best in the introduction himself in his introduction as dealing with people’s extremes. Take for example ‘Heroine Heroin’ on first readings it seemed to be quite a hard hitting piece about the title in question, but the last line at the end of the piece had the sort of twist it completely changes the juxoposition of the piece and leave you thinking ‘oooooh’
‘Drenched’ is another example of John’s poetry that I love where nothing happens ‘your face still damp from your undried hair’ right up to the end ‘where the scent of last night lingers’, John is a master of poetry in the twilight of existence where nothing happens but everything touches, scratches in the distance..
Winston H Plowes I know as the juggling poet and have seen him do that on several occasions to an amazing response if you have ever seen him perform, and as the final Poet in the collection on initial thinking made me think he is a total contrast to John’s sometimes bleak verse but I then remembered Winston the first time I met him at Write Out Sale at the beginning of 2009 I think where he read out a track about abuse in relationships which although touched on the same kind of misery approached it from a different angle.
On pieces like ‘Ignition distraction’ – it is a natural follow on from John’s pieces with a beginning like ‘After the winter’s first scraping / I’m encased in the car, apprehensive’ – this is a poem set in darkness in a short time period where nothing happens but life is scratching on the car window.
This is contrasted by less miserable poems I felt, but just as skilfully wrote pieces such as ‘Oil & Cheese / Chalk & Water’ which seems to be talking about relationship difficulties with family (something I could relate to certainly). Excellent Stuff.
The book as you can see is not a book that will be full of light stuff, pixies and jolly dreams. This is a book that I think cuts under the underbelly of Modern day Manchester poetry and looks deeper and darker than is explored I think in a lot of other poetry but within its Misery is hope and where Freedom (like freedom of expression) is dangerous.
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