The Moorings, 2021

 I was happy to review The Moorings, an anthology of work by a poetry group led by  local poet Janne Graham It is edited by Janne and Amelia Fieldon, who is best known for her Japanese tanka collections and published by Interactive Press (IP). Here is the review I wrote for the IP website:

 

The Moorings.

Reviewed By Hazel Hall

Janne Graham, Amelia Fielden, Julia Irwin, Neva Kastelic and Meryl Turner, 2021. The Moorings.

Editors: Amelia Fielden and Janne Graham.

Cover image: Neva Kastelic.

Published by: Interactive Press.

The Moorings is a collection of poetry by five members of a poetry workshop group convened by Janne D. Graham. Graham describes her venture into poetry writing as “newish”, but she has contributed to several other poetry groups for some years. She has published in their anthologies and various journals as well. As editor, she is joined by Amelia Fielden, who is well known and widely published in Japanese forms. Three other poets, Julia Irwin, Neva Kastelic and Meryl Turner bring their experience in other art forms to the group. Irwin returns to poetry with a dance background. Kastelic“likes to take photos” and has provided an original cover image. Turner has an interest in art.

All these skills and interests have contributed to the richness and diversity of the group. The women have developed a special closeness, enabling them to produce a collection of poetry written between 2016 and 2019, where the joy of words and writing is always present.

These poets are not daunted by the diversity of poetic forms They are aware that years can pass before one feels confident to work in a particular structure with all its technical demands, but are still willing to attempt them. Metaphor, rhythm, rhyme, volta, syllabic and stanza length are only a few of the challenges that accompany a poem and allow its story to be revealed. There is too, the problem of choosing a form that will best complement message of the text. For example, Graham chooses repetition to bring childlike simplicity to her triolet “At Three” (p. 26). It is a fine example of the successful blend of form and theme: 

 

You cannot dream what you'll become

The world is small when you are three

A sandpit and a gate to swing on

 

Haiku poet Matsuo Basho's (1644-1694) travel journey The Narrow Road to the Deep North, became his most famous publication. In “Oregon Holiday 2018” (p. 44), Fielden brings her exerience in writing tanka journals to the collection as she reflects on the past in this poignant poem: 

 

why should I

climb every mountain

to find my dream

in old age I sleep well

with the sound of the sea

Animals and the environment are prominent themes in this collection. For example, the hare has inspired artists for centuries. Turner's “New Year’s Day 2017” (p. 59) offers an unusual turn in the final stanza as the live hare of earlier lines becomes a work of art: 

 

I know this hare, it has escaped

from a medieval scene recently

embroidered by me on tie-dyed linen.

Kastelic’s shaped poem “A Photographer on Dairy Farmer’s Hill in July” (p. 34) also contains an interesting turn where she takes the word play to a new level:

This hill was once on fire. Scorched. Black. Lost. A raven soars.

Quick! Before he too is gone... click.

In Irwin’s “A Winter Diva” (p. 85) we have a glimpse of her love for dance. With all the characteristics of tanka, but written like a five line poem with conventional punctuation, it turns in line 3 :

A winter diva –

They pelt me with flowers:

I, the backyard star!

Wattle birds strew my feet

with next door's red gum blossoms.

There are many other poems worthy of mention in this collection, including Fielden’s carefully sculptured “Cafe in Burgandy (p.73)”, Irwin's topical “Tourne-Soleils . . . For Clytie” (p. 58), Turner's "Another Fall" (p. 70) and Kastelic’s enigmatic “May 2018” (p. 84).

As Graham points out in her sonnet “Cultural Threads” (p. 65) :

Food ties our disparate cultures by a thread

The Moorings shows us that poetry can tie us together in a similar way allowing us to experiment with words, share and celebrate our offerings together.