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Unsung
Songs
By: Sharmagne Leland-St. John
43 pages
30 poems ~1 prose piece / $9.95
ISBN: 0-9764244-0-1
Published by Quill and Parchment Press
A Division of Quill and Parchment.com
Review by: jacob
erin-cilberto
Are you sitting down? You might need to be if you read “Unsung
Songs” a book of poetry by Sharmagne Leland –St. John.
Ms. Leland-St. John says, "Poems are songs without music and
frequently a song which will never be sung to the person it was written
to, or about, or for.
This book is
a magical autobiography in poetry that will knock you down with its
impact. The poems contain variance in style, theme and tone.
The wonderfully sarcastic “I Said Coffee” will make you smile with
its tongue-in-cheek humor. The poem begins with “i said coffee/ i
didn’t say,/ ‘would you like to cup/ my warm/soft breasts/ in
your /un-calloused,/ long/ tapered/ ringless fingered/
hands?’”---and just keeps getting better and more sardonic from
there until the wonderful twist at the end.
"Michael" will bring a tear to your eye with its forlorn glow: “quiet
now brooding/I wonder where your thoughts have been” and “moods are
always changing/just like the English weather”---probably like most of
us find our moods changing.
“Unsung Song to Ron” from which the book derives its title, will
grab your gut just where it hurts most, the heart of it. “I’m the
one…/ to gently ease your pain/ The one who’ll try through silence/
to win your love again.”
“Goodbye” is an eerily sad piece which expresses that sentiment we
have all felt when losing someone who is so close to us we have felt a
part of them and them a part of us. “Heartache here I come/ make
way for your newborn son.” Now a piece is missing, but not from
this wonderful poetic ride. Just as on a rollercoaster, we laugh,
scream, cry and yell as we read this offering from Sharmagne that is
sure to be a ticket to a very strong emotional journey that will have
you pondering the works long after you have put the book down.
In “Poetry
of Lies” she says “You filled my childhood/with your poetry of
lies” but in this book the poet fills our hearts with the “poetry of
truth”! The admission was well worth the enjoyment of reading
something that on many levels I could relate to so well. I
strongly suggest this book of poems and thank the author for writing it
so I could “ride” with it.
jacob”erin-cilberto
has been writing poetry for over 35 years and has published 8 chapbooks
including “Penguins and Other Matters of Black and White” and his
most recent “Fast Food, Slow Mind”---he has published in numerous
journals and small magazines including: Café Review, Wind Journal,
Skyline Magazine, Voices, Pegasus and Parnassus. He teaches poetry
workshops for the Heartland Writers Guild and for the Southern Illinios
Writers Guild and currently teaches English literature and composition
at John A. Logan community college in Carterville, Illinios.
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