I would like to say here, no one is perfect and while there may be a few clerical errors in the books I review they, in the end, do not distract from the message/meaning in the words.
The review below is a review I received for my first book:
BOOK REVIEW: The World through a Poet's Eyes, by Connie Jordan
Reviewed by: David Russell
Connie's BooksThe World through a Poet's Eyes, by Connie Jordan
This collection is a pragmatic guide to self-discipline and self-protection. It puts personal issues into the context of current affairs, and explores in depth the issues of relating consciousness of the past to coping with the present.
The opener, Apology Not An Option, is about someone standing for herself, not excusing abusive comments made ‘in the heat of the moment’. Black Voices & World Disorder jumps into the world arena of massacres and terrorism. Bullies pleads, to people who have suffered bullying in the past, not to be vindictive, by picking on the next, the smaller and weaker, emulating their persecutors.
Charlie Hebdo challenges the stance of that satirical journal: “You continue to stand strong in your freedom to offend, all for personal gain, regardless of whose lives are jeopardized and shamed by your folly; Such an issue as this, when feelings run so hot on both sides, demands full debate –
Compassion: It is wrong to ‘live in the past’ for comfort and reassurance. But the past is a formative influence, providing guidelines for the present. The powers that be manipulate the past, to dull awareness, and make people compliant: “those lessons dealt to you on a whim of contentious rhetoric,/leading you to distraction . . .” Stored Memories is a guide to handling the past’s residue – including its scars; “Those memories will stay hidden, until my present state of being, clashes with those remembrances.” One must respect the past without becoming enslaved to it. Past Present Future relates time evaluation to the consequences of the slave trade: “I don’t understand why they expect us to forget a past that lingers even now, in the present, while threatening to encumber our future, with the past we share with our ancestors.” This fact is glossed over. Slave Owner Mentality: “I get so flustered with the notion of living my life in the shadow of someone else’s expectations, judging me by what they see, the color of my skin represents like no other.
Terrorist Amongst Us rightly puts present-day terrorism into a historical context, including persecution of blacks in the USA. Doing it for the Kids – Connie criticises the complacency of prosperous, secure nuclear families. She exhorts such parents to be aware of what they, as children, aspired to (probably sacrificed for material gain), to strive for the true personal fulfilment of their own children. Growth is an organic analogy to personal development – struggling through the darkness of the soil to the light, becoming a fruit-bearing tree.
Rain asserts the value of the balance of the elements; storms are essential to sustain growth. Shine Your Light compares the action of the elements to personal relationships: “what my eyes see, my heart conceives of as a disaster waiting to happen, in the effort to move things forward on a positive . . .” How To Make That Change appraises the influence of Barack Obama, heightening awareness of divisions and injustices, when so many people had been blinkered. Two later dedications to Obama call for a proper evaluation of his achievements, against those prejudiced against him, with “their desire to live in the past instead of moving forward”.
I’m Still Waiting – for a divine intervention/revelation/resolution.” Jihad – appealing to the ‘better nature’ of a Jihadi. Just for a Day pleads for Divine Guidance, and acknowledges the shortcomings of democracy: “People marching in the streets for free speech, only so they can offend and provoke” Lessons Learned is an impassioned plea to a girl in danger of being drawn into Terrorism because of its glamour, an appeal to her critical faculties: “Decide what you are looking for before you expose who you really are . . . Wouldn’t it be better to be alone . . .”
Life accepts treadmills, but insists that one must struggle to attain a higher level of being. Living Between the Lines is a progression from ‘reading between the lines’. One must maintain an independent distance from the pressures of others. You Can Only Control What You See conveys the feelings of a fugitive keeping her distance from those ‘lines’, in a lifetime struggle to sustain individuality.
Men vs Women criticises both sexes. Men are capricious and selfish, whilst “Women . . . displaying what should be kept private in an attempt to ensnare someone who will truly care, using all of their wiles to beguile and captivate. I do not fully relate to this poem, because I live in a world where Single Mums are commonplace; but I agree that one should refrain from procreation until one knows exactly what one is doing.
Seek Your Truth indicts emotional parasites who pick their partners’ brains to make false interfaces. Survival describes one such, who tried and failed to take over the poet’s mind. Missing You concerns bereavement, and longing for reunion in eternity. My Awakening celebrates the partner, who rescued her from inner blindness and negativity. Remembering the You or Our We celebrates their lifetime devotion, and regret that they could not leave the world together.
Taking Back Your Power – greed dehumanises; humanity en masse must rally: “Wake up and claim that power back.” Transform, Be Kind portrays Connie’s struggles for verbal self-expression; she takes the rough with the smooth: “They are meant with love, sprinkled with the frustration I feel generated by the knowledge that after all this time, we are still slightly blind to what it takes to move forward in grace.”
Violence in the Hood opposes inner city gang warfare. What I Did to Survive – a cry from someone thrown into poverty by a brutal society, preferring recycling to doping anything nefarious. When You Go surveys unresolved conflicts and horrendous injustices: “no one wants to get to the core of the situation, closing doors on the real alienations that have persisted through the ages.”
This collection disproves any assertion that statements of sound, common sense are dull and insensitive. A great personal guidebook indeed; I am reminded of Desiderata.
David Russell
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