pturnbull's review
5.0
I purchased and read this book because I wanted to know more about Annette Spaulding-Convy's poetry. She critiqued two of my poems through the Two Sylvias Press Online Poetry Retreat. Her response to the most recent was so insightful that it helped me understand my own poetry better, helped me recognize where my strengths as a poet might lead. I wanted to see how her poems reflected her critical awareness.
After the chapbook arrived in the mail, I read its 21 poems in one sitting. I loved several of them right away, especially, "There Were No Rules About Underwear." The thematic arc of the book tells about Spaulding-Convy's journey away from the convent into secular life, with the final poem being, "I bring my newborn to the convent." Women from popular culture such as Patsy Cline and Madonna enter her world and beckon. She speaks to Saint Agatha, tries to explain why the church made her the saint of volcanoes. S-C's body also speaks, refuses to stay "drowned / in a habit's straight white sea."
Today I washed the sun porch windows and walls. When I rested, I picked up the book again and, being alone in the house, indulged my compulsion to read the first five poems out loud. Poems that puzzled me the first time made sense this time. Reading aloud made me happy, joyful even. The sounds, the way the poems are put together, the lines and line breaks, the endings--all are touched by grace. I also enjoy her use of ecclesiastical vocabulary and Latin.
This chapbook is a pleasure to read even if, like me, you are not immersed in Christian spirituality or at all versed in Roman Catholic culture. But I found it contemplative, mindful, beautiful. If you think you might be at all interested in the book, don't delay. You'll love it.
After the chapbook arrived in the mail, I read its 21 poems in one sitting. I loved several of them right away, especially, "There Were No Rules About Underwear." The thematic arc of the book tells about Spaulding-Convy's journey away from the convent into secular life, with the final poem being, "I bring my newborn to the convent." Women from popular culture such as Patsy Cline and Madonna enter her world and beckon. She speaks to Saint Agatha, tries to explain why the church made her the saint of volcanoes. S-C's body also speaks, refuses to stay "drowned / in a habit's straight white sea."
Today I washed the sun porch windows and walls. When I rested, I picked up the book again and, being alone in the house, indulged my compulsion to read the first five poems out loud. Poems that puzzled me the first time made sense this time. Reading aloud made me happy, joyful even. The sounds, the way the poems are put together, the lines and line breaks, the endings--all are touched by grace. I also enjoy her use of ecclesiastical vocabulary and Latin.
This chapbook is a pleasure to read even if, like me, you are not immersed in Christian spirituality or at all versed in Roman Catholic culture. But I found it contemplative, mindful, beautiful. If you think you might be at all interested in the book, don't delay. You'll love it.
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