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At Last a Valley
by Lara Dolphin
Format: 5 x 8 ~ Perfect Bound
34 poems ~ 41 pages
Price: $15.00
Publisher: Blue Jade Press
ISBN #: 978-1-961043-02-2
To Order: Amazon
Reviewed by Michael Escoubas
A quote by writer A. A. Milne (1882-1956, inventor of the cherished “Winnie-the-Pooh” children’s stories) opens Lara Dolphin’s daring new volume:
“But it isn’t easy,” said Pooh. “Because Poetry and Hums aren’t things which you get, they’re things that get you. And all you can do is to go where they can find you.”
I can’t think of a better segue into At Last a Valley. Lara Dolphin’s poetry finds me–ropes me in, draws me near as with a lasso. My purpose in this review is to offer you, my reader, a loop in the same rope that captured me.
Let’s begin with titles: “HARKing: My Post Hoc Life,” “Whereby the Legacy Robe Reci-pient Can’t Even,” SCOTUS Van Backs over Mary Richards’ Tam,” “Turritopsis Dohrnii Visits the Woods Hole Science Aquarium,” and “Fancy Dress Race.” Are you out of breath yet?!?! Titles are a strong suit for Lara Dolphin. Her titles are strategic. She entices, she challenges, she dares readers to take part in life . . . albeit the uniquely slanted life Dolphin proffers. When I read such titles, I too, go where they, the poems, can find me.
“HARKing: My Post Hoc Life,” begins:
Consider a mother
who believes that a little time to herself
will increase her sense of well-being
Most parents have coveted this familiar expression … all she’s asking is a moment, well maybe an hour? Perhaps two, but:
Then the unexpected–my sense of contentment fades
I drive down my earlier thoughts
convincing myself that I knew that I would miss you
but I’ll never tell
because after all (and all along)
I was correct
Several poems relate to show business. “Whereby the Legacy Robe Recipient Can’t Even” is among them. This insightful poem chronicles the work and sacrifices inherent in the performing arts.
When you said goodbye
to your hometown
and headed for the city,
you didn’t care what people thought.
Enrolled in dance classes
by day, you waited tables at night
hoping to be ready
when the big break came.
Dolphin’s closing stanza is a study in irony, a reflection of reality. Don’t miss this one.
Dolphin continues her show business motif with “Secret Song.” This must read is about country music legend Dolly Parton. The lady with a voice “small as a country cabin / Grand as the Smoky Mountains” hides “a deeper truth / Kept from the public / Locked in a box / In the heart of Appalachia.” This poem reveals a second strength evident in Dolphin’s poetry: metaphor. Dolly Parton’s unsung lyrics resonate as sweetly as her clear soprano voice.
One of the most popular sitcoms during the years 1970-1977, was the Mary Tyler Moore Show. The iconic opening scene where Mary Richards (the show’s lead character played by Moore) has Mary tossing her hat into the air on a frigid morning in Minneapolis. “SCOTUS Van Backs over Mary Richards’ Tam,” offers Lara Dolphin’s unique take on this scene. I predict you will be surprised, as was I, at exactly who is driving the van and Dolphin’s touch of sarcasm in the poem’s last line.
Lara Dolphin’s latest collection is a journey. She invited this reviewer to join her on a nationwide, indeed a worldwide voyage. With each stop the poet served up a smorgasbord of appetizers, salads, main dishes, and desserts–a diet of wisdom, an artistic experience which nourished the bone and sinew of my mind and my heart.
And yet for all of that, this is a mother, a wife, a businesswoman, an intellectual who, the last time I checked, was wondering what to fix for supper.
At Last a Valley, by Lara Dolphin, highly recommended, underpriced at $15.00.
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