Ode to Toni Morrison* A Highland Park Poetry Review

 

As poets and writers, putting our work out into the public arena makes us vulnerable. It exposes us like a swim suit model. It makes us crazy.  We agonize over what people will think of us. We agonize over our choices.

We face potential criticism. We risk being judged. People can be unkind in their feedback. Not to mention, some folks simply fail to get where we are coming from. They miss the message. Critics would be surprised to learn that it's harder than it looks.

And let's face it: art is subjective. "One man's trash is another man's treasure." Which is why I was honored and humbled with today's review of my recent book by Highland Park Poetry.

Reviewer Barbara Eaton shares the following:

There is no dross in the poetry of Jennifer Brown Banks.  Direct, to-the-point, intelligent, and often witty, her poems speak to her experience and ours.  Her latest book, “Ode to toni morrison” (and collected poems...) covers the pandemic, the death of her mother, the deaths of Toni Morrison and the artist formerly known as Prince, the joys and fears of parenting, what she calls the “Daddy Deficit,” and many more of the trials and triumphs of life.

The title poem, “Ode to Toni Morrison,” expresses the poet’s wish to have met the Nobel Laureate “Perhaps in some/Quaint coffee shop,/ With an assortment of herbal teas/ And pricey brews,” the young poet “Full of awe and admiration,” “Hoping to emulate.”  But, alas, this meeting never took place, since Morrison passed away in 2019.  Her works, however, remain “Etched/ In our hearts.”

“Ain’t it Silly? Really!” is a clever little poem about the trivial reasons for family feuds:

“because they disagree,

Over ancient history.

Or money. 

Or sibling rivalry. 

Or hurtful words               

Uttered mistakenly."

My favorite poem in the collection is “Parenting is Like Baking a Cake.”  It is a conceit, an elaborate comparison of cake baking and parenting.  The conclusion is characteristically optimistic: you “hope/It rises.” 

I enjoyed the poet’s energy and optimism.  If you need a shot of energy and optimism, you need this book. 

===ABOUT THE REVIEWER: Barbara Eaton is a poet and semi-retired community college instructor.

To read the entire review or to order the book, visit Highland Park Poetry's site here:

http://www.highlandparkpoetry.org/reviewsthanks.html

 A special thanks to Highland Park Poetry and Barbara Eaton for their time, consideration, and constructive feedback.  

Image credit: quotation mark, Pixabay.com