"WomanSong"
Written by: Linda Boyden
Published by: Bighorn Press
Reviewed by: Fionna Doney Simmonds
Genre: Poetry
The pulse of a spirit-drum vibrates through this small chapbook. Divided into two parts, the first recalls Native America, Boyden's ancestors who prop her up, make her, and explain her. The second resides in Hawaii. The journey through spirituality leaves the reader with a presentiment of a greater world, of there being more than meets the eye, of not being alone but being comfortable with it.
WomanSong is a lovely little chapbook. Some poems are slightly forced like "Between Two Worlds," but others such as "Cedar Songs Left Behind" capture a sense of the loss the people, and America ultimately, suffered in its treatment of its natives:
I faltered once, she said, but did not stop. I released the cedar songs, instead of tears As they pushed my man from the dawn, From my arms.
Boyden's pride in her ancestry is evident in the poems she has written; however, she is not afraid to show us that once upon a time she wasn't. There are some poignant memories, lines that create a lump in the throat. Prejudice is not something all of us have to deal with. But Boyden is not afraid to show us her adolescent confusion, her dislike of being not of the same grain.
But I ran-from his touch, his laugh, his look,
Unwilling to surrender the veil It took so long
to weave; Unwilling to watch my precious truth
unravel.
- "You Indian?"
Of the two sections, however, I preferred the five poems of Part Two. Set in Hawaii, these poems evoke the mysterious beauty of the islands. Having visited the islands and felt their power, I feel Boyden has literalised the otherness of them, the spiritual blood that brings the islands to life in the technicolour majesty of Matisse's great works.
Ohia trees in silent pantomime
Don tragic poses, charcoal black;
Unable to recall
The color red or the smell of sweet air
Ripening against a tropical sky.
- In the Bosom of Pele
I enjoyed this little chapbook. It is an easy read, something to relax with on a Sunday afternoon. I would have enjoyed seeing more poems like those on Hawaii, but perhaps they will be included in her next collection. There were some poems in the first section that needed more work, but overall it is a good read.
Fionna Doney Simmonds is a freelance writer. She has published reviews with Moondance.org, parametermagazine.org.uk, 'Reader's Review' (UK) and 'Avocado'.