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Shimmer: An Ekphrastic Poetry Collection
by Paulette Demers Turco
24 Poems ~ 25 art images (14 acrylic paintings on canvas,
3 drawings on Bristol paper, 8 color photos) ~ 81 pages
Price: $20.00 SC ~ $28.00 HC
Publisher: Kelsay Books
ISBN: 978-1-63980-317-0
ISBN: 978-1-63980-333-0
To Order: www.Kelsaybooks.com
Reviewed by Michael Escoubas
Shimmer, by Paulette Demers Turco, excels on two fronts: First, it is a superb work of art; second, and perhaps more importantly, it is a work of the poet’s heart. Turco’s professional resume includes a career in both clinical and academic optometry. Her life has been about vision, about helping people see the world with clarity. I have no idea whether Turco associates her career endeavors with her art. What stands out to me is Paulette Turco’s visual sense with both brush and pen. My goal in this review is to juxtapose both the “art” and the “heart” accomplished by this remarkable talent.
Design
The book is organized into six sections: I. Waves, II. Wishes, III. Flight IV. Flow, V. Beacons, and VI. Home. These economical section headings add to the charm and simplicity of design. Each heading contains between three and five poems. The book stays within its prescribed lanes. That is, both design and content are like a well-trained athlete: no fat or flab, just energy and precision.
Nuances in Forms
Most of Turco’s poems rhyme. This is a maturated skill. I found the music of her rhymed sequences delightful to the ear. Even her non-rhyming poems resonate with internal rhymes together with excellent end-line decisions; all strong compositions. Shimmers features four triolets, numerous sonnets and even a double-sonnet. Her free verse poems remind me of Emily Dickinson’s style, particularly in her use of the em dash.
Heart and Art Juxtaposed
I lead with Shimmering Plum Island Dawn, the collection’s title poem. It is one of several triolets which the poet judiciously places within the whole. Triolets feature prescribed line-repetitions and rhyme-schemes. These spare poems pack a creative punch while leaving room for expansive sounds and visual effects. I felt “time” melting as if I were present as the tide came in, castles disappearing. Is the poet’s heart conveying a subtle life-lesson?
Shimmer, Acrylic on Canvas
Shimmering Plum Island Dawn
Sunrays shimmer in the air,
Time melts as foam-topped waves crash down
on sparkling sand as on a dare.
Sunrays shimmer in the air.
At high tide, castles disappear.
My child’s towel becomes a gown.
Sunrays shimmer in the air.
Time melts as foam-topped waves crash down.
In section II, the poet turns her attention to family. I sense her heart in these poems which feature a young girl’s aspirations for ballet. Visually challenged, the youth must cope with whether to wear eyeglasses on stage. Two graphite drawings of a ballerina’s feet combine perfectly with sonnets that chronicle her inner conflict.
In the same section, the artist draws February Lilies, a combination which offers valuable insights about Turco’s artistic process:
Sepia ink on Bristol paper
February Lilies
Lilies in a vase,
lit with morning light
through a mullioned window,
beside drawing paper
with pen and ink supplies
to try–one stroke, then more,
strong and gentle, curved.
Accentuations, shadows
extend across a sheet
of thick white Bristol paper.
After a quite hour,
lines transform to stems,
leaves, alabaster
blossoms, vase, translucence–
fragrant scent of spring.
Section III. Flight, features color photographs of sand dunes, ice-glazed holly berries glistening red, waiting for, “cedar waxwings / flitting in, / grasping orbs, / crisp and sweet, / sharing in pairs, / beak to beak.” You won’t want to miss the other lovely images and poems in this section.
Those who love lighthouses will delight in an entire section devoted to them. Orange Sky on Charlevoix, is among my favorites:
Acrylic on Canvas
Orange Sky on Charlevoix
She never could imagine this Great Lake,
illuminated by the setting sun,
bright as a centenarian’s birthday cake–
candles all aflame. This day’s not done.
This lighthouse, water surface, cloud-filled sky,
capture this slant of light for moments here–
before the lighthouse beam will blink its eye,
as if afloat, for mariners to veer
their ships around threats hidden by the night.
For now, the miracle of waves of light
meanders through the surfaces she’ll view
without him—pleased to be among the few
to capture this collage of orange red.
It will not last, nor change what lies ahead.
The term “Ekphrastic” derives its meaning from a Greek root meaning “Description.” However, there is more to it than mere description. At her best, the ekphrastic poet pours her heart into description. After the Lightning Storm, speaks volumes:
Acrylic on Canvas
After the Lightning Storm
Thunder shakes the air, the ground, the oaks,
as bulging, smoke-gray clouds spew giant glops
that soak the withered garden-yellow sundrops,
while jagged light from cloud to cloud now stokes
fear among some families. We help coax
some to shelter with their beach bags. Shops,
though closed, are havens till the lightning stops,
the gusting northeast wind abates. Like strokes
of brush, the late day rays are swept through mist,
lightning clouds that fill a brightened sky
with purples, pinks, and apricot, and gold,
while tall oaks appear as silhouettes
in filigree–surreal to the eye–
a bold celestial canvas to behold.
I close as the author does, with her acrylic on canvas creation: Dusk in Marblehead Harbor. The curtain falls ever-so-gently with this excerpt from Turco’s sonnet, “On the Edge of Light,”:
Acrylic on Canvas
The harbor surface holds the rim of day,
Reflected in each ripple, every ray
Remaining in an iridescent sky,
Dimming as a gull or term coasts by.
Excelling with brush and with pen, in art and in heart, Shimmer: An Ekphrastic Poetry Collection, shines with excellence.
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