|
Come December: A Collection of Poems
by Colleen McManus Hein
101 Poems ~ 151 Pages
Format: 5 x 8 ~ Perfect Bound
Price: $5.00
Publisher: Independently Published via Kindle Direct
To Order: Amazon.com
Reviewed by Michael Escoubas
In Come December, Colleen Hein feels an inherent desire to capture and preserve her experiences of the people and places that have shaped her life. Poetry for Hein is about feeling. She expresses what she and others are feeling. When poets do this, they succeed in their vocation. Of course, within this process, it is always important that the poet choose the right words and that she places them in the right order. The craft of poetry is always in play. My goal is to show that Colleen Hein excels in her poetic calling.
The miniature “Please Come In,” is a wonderful place to start:
Please come in.
I have people and places to show you.
They live in my head but
They want to be seen.
You see, I paint with words.
I saw your face,
And I want to frame you.
Throughout the collection, Hein surprised me with her creativity. “Within Your Hand” paints the planets by assigning a planet to each finger: “The indexed one is Jupiter / Ambitious digit / Pointing to the heavens. // Middle is Saturn, / Gloomy, serious, and / Oh so responsible.” Mercury, Venus, and Mars find their rightful place in Hein’s galaxy of the hand.
While primarily writing in free verse, Hein shows ample skill with form poetry. Look for examples of the viator, haiku, sestina, prose poems, and an array of short poems which provide variety and texture to the whole. “There’s a Face on the Maple,” highlights Hein’s use of personification:
There’s a face on the maple;
Bark brow,
Acorned nodule of a nose,
Mouth a scar
From an axed arm.
He watches me,
Tells me what it’s like
To live as a tree.
I asked him once
To switch with me;
He just smiled.
Hein’s practiced eye for detail is self-evident throughout her work. So is her awareness of the wear and tear of suffering in her life. She has a way of making me feel as if I have been “with” her all along:
There’s a bench out front.
We’ve rusted together
Through seasons merged;
Watched my life
Come and go,
Fast to slow.
The wood held me up.
A worn spot proves
It all really happened.
Hein is truly a “down-to-earth” poet. In “Mother of the Groom” she dreads being the center of attention when the D.J. announces that it is time for the Mother and Groom to dance solo at the reception. Why? She can’t dance. Certain she would make a fool of herself, the ending had me wiping away a tear!
In my opening example the poet says, “I paint with words.” This haiku is but one stunning example:
Sun creams tangerine
With rose. My heart is cement.
The horizon flares.
The poignant “Down the Rabbit Hole” is about her mother, an Alzheimer’s victim. The poem recalls when she, “wrote letters to the White House,” and “read the paper every day, perusing for facts and lies.” With my brother in Stage 4, this poem hit me where I live.
“Cedar Chest” chronicles a treasure trove of memories kept at the foot of her parent’s bed. There were baptismal gowns, and locks of hair from first haircuts. A mink stole complete with feet and claws and other things her dear mother valued. Things she hoped her posterity would value as well. I feel similarly about Come December. Like the cedar chest, this signature collection begs to be opened, its contents savored while sipping a cup of sugared tea.
|
