Rhymes
with Pillow by Sandy Eastoak
A
Review
I
attended a reading on Thursday, February 6th. It was one of the ongoing series of talks
that the store I work at holds every Thursday.
This event was the premier reading for a new book by poet and artist,
Sandy Eastoak. The book is called Rhymes with Pillow and I think it will
be of particular interest to readers of this blog.
Rhymes is a collection of
poems all on the subject of Willow Trees.
That is to say that each poem has as its topic the Willow. In addition, each poem is in a form, meaning
that all but a few of the poems are formal verse. And among those formal verse poems a
significant number are in some type of syllabic form.
In
other words, Rhymes is a tour de
force of poetic form. Among the forms
are Sestina, Villanelle, Triolet, and Sonnet.
Among the syllabic forms you will find Cinquain, Etheree, Lanterne,
Quinzaine, and Tetractys. Eastoak’s
Haiku are non-syllabic in construction.
The
book sparkles. The book also reveals how
different forms, simply by the nature of the form, draw the poet into certain
types of expression. I have, at times,
noted that some free verse poets are what I think of as ‘form deaf’. I mean by this that they are unable to
comprehend, or to perceive, that form itself is a conveyer of meaning. During the reading Eastoak talked a little
about her relationship to the formal structures and how the forms themselves
lead her to certain understandings and observations about Willows. She said that writing in a particular form
was like putting a pipe in the ground and having pure spring water gush forth
as a result. I really liked that
image. And it is also what I have found
with formal structures. Looked at in
this way, formal structures are not hindrances; rather formal structures are
tools that allow us to access sources that nourish our creativity. They are both tools that we can use and
sources of wisdom that guide us in the craft of shaping words into significant
forms.
The
idea of writing in numerous forms all on the same topic is an excellent way to
clarify the way that a formal structure will, in itself, open us up to certain
kinds of understandings. The beauty of
the Willow is reflected upon from numerous formal perspectives in this
collection and, as a teaching device, this collection has great merit.
The
poems themselves are well-crafted, engaging, and have a wide range of emotional
content. The audience was clearly
charmed by the poetry and the careful craftsmanship displayed in the numerous
forms. The book is an effective
demonstration of the efficacy of poetic form.
It is also a treat to read; highly recommended.
Rhymes
with Pillow
Sandy
Eastoak
ISBN:
9781495227110
$20.00
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