Chanticleer Book Reviews

Tag: Nature

EXITS by Stephen C. Pollock – Poetry, Nature, Spirituality

Exits by Stephen C. Pollock embodies the malleable nature of poetry, balancing the reflective, spiritual, personal, and primal. It changes from rhyme to free verse, even within one poem, and shares thoughtful observations.

Some poems ask the reader to reflect on nature and human reactions to it. Arachnidæa: Line Drawings blends rhyme, stanza lengths, and free verse with the brutal truth of damaging trespasses that humans have taken into the natural world. Metamorphosis continues this theme as it shows the beautiful cycle of life from bloom to decay, and it challenges us to consider how our human intervention can render that cycle barren.

“The butterfly bush on our berm… grew to resemble some great green sphere / whose blooms and perfume intoxicate the senses / of black-veined yellow swallowtails….But in May — Roaches! Panic! Pesticide spray / for the house…Now the butterflies are gone… It’s a shame to be sure, and surely no one’s to blame, / though our berm, and world, will never be quite the same.”

Many of these poems reveal a darker side to nature, a struggle with health issues that can consume a person.

Syringe references the chaste nymph Syrinx of Greek myth who was turned into hollow reeds, and the poem itself juxtaposes pastoral images of a serene pond and horsetails with the experience of living with multiple sclerosis, creating a powerful visual lyric.

Spine of Dorian Gray alludes to the decaying of Dorian’s portrait in his attic, tied to the destruction of the speaker’s spine as the disease progresses. Nasal Biopsy compares the terrifying procedure that will reveal a possible cancer diagnosis with a spiritual experience of the sacrament and poses questions of faith in the face of nature.

Exits offers a unique and thematically rich collection of poetry, and each reading reveals more insights for the reader to contemplate.

February 1, 2023
RAVENS ROOST by Maggie Bates – Children’s Nature Books, Illustrated Books, Children’s Friendship Books

Maggie Bates’s Ravens Roost is a Children’s book that explores the illustrated nighttime adventures of a woman with her friend, a small frog.

This story teaches children how to be curious about forest animals, even in the middle of a wind storm. Bates is new to writing Children’s books, and cares deeply for the natural world. Her rapport with animals likely inspired her debut tale.

Ravens Roost begins with a frog sitting on a roof, wondering where ravens go at night. The woman who lives in the house decides to help the frog follow his curiosity on an adventure. First, she climbs up a tree to watch ravens soar overhead. She admires the moon and notices the birds perching in her favorite tree. She climbs down and starts her trek along a forest path as night falls and the wind picks up. The woman tucks her frog friend into her pocket for safety. Along their journey, the frog and the woman share a special friendship.

The pair get trapped in the storm and the woman feels lost about where the ravens have gone.

Illustrations of the storm, the face of the wind, and the swirling background add depth and complexity to a pivotal part in the story. These images bring the story to life and sweep the reader up in their tale.

Ravens Roost is imaginative and observant of the world, making it a good choice for building vocabulary with a youngster.

This story’s lessons come in elegant prose. After reading of the author’s love and respect for nature at the end of the book, the parallels between the lead character and the author become apparent. Some beautiful ideas from Ravens Roost are realized by letting the wind carry us away, admiring numerous ravens on a perch, or protecting a frog from harm during a storm. Maggie Bates teaches children to be curious about animals, and the world we share with them.

Although the woman and frog are different in many ways, their ability to coexist is a valuable lesson.

In the end, if we do not stop to admire the natural beauty that surrounds us, we are overlooking unlikely friendships that may form, such as a woman with a frog. Bates reminds us that nature is a sacred space in her debut tale, and this story is paramount to us appreciating nature at any age.

July 1, 2022
WESTERN SKIES By Darden Smith – Song Writing, Photography, Natural Beauty, Texas

Sometimes, when the world feels like it’s closing in and life doesn’t make sense, the best thing to do is take a road trip.

Just get in the car and drive, letting the scenery pass by, allowing thoughts, memories and reflections to flow freely. In Western Skies by singer and writer Darden Smith, he invites us on just such a trip through his home state of Texas, and treats us to a glimpse of his time on the road in prose. Western Skies is a companion book for Smith’s album of the same name and features Polaroids (taken with an old Polaroid from Smith’s garage and tossed in a box on the front seat of his car while driving), along with his original prose and lyrics from that album.

The pictures seem like glimpses of a time past, captured in sepia tones, and are haunting, dusty, and sometimes blurry-like the view out the window of a car. Collectively, they show us a different side of Texas: the wide-open skies, stands of oaks and yuccas, and long stretches of road dotted by radio towers, stucco houses, abandoned Quonset huts and diesel fuel pumps. They complement the descriptions, from the vast expanses of Texas highways: “The road rises steady from the Pecos Past the truck stop visions of Fort Stockton, The northern reaches of the Davis Mountains And the gatherings of Van Horn” (Sierra Blanca), to the uniqueness of its cities: “Juárez is the girl your instinct tells you to walk, no, run from But whose memory wakes you in the night” (Juarez) and the challenges of its climate. Anyone who has ever been in a monsoon will understand the warning in “Rain” when he starts out with “The smell of cloud catches the heart of the most jaded. For even they know the promise of what may follow” and contains the warning that “Torrents are longed for and dreaded in equal measure. Their quantity dreamed of, Speed and destruction often remembered too late as the flood runs wild over road and arroyo.”

Western Skies is an intimate and personal book.

Listening to Darden Smith’s album while reading it, one might wonder who caused the heartbreak and hope in his lyrics (and possibly sent him on his road trip) when he says, “Well I keep holding on even though it’s wrong ’Cause your memory makes me smile”(Perfect for a Little While) and “No matter how far you run, how fast you’ve sinned I’d forgive what you done, where you’ve been” (The High Road).

For those just finding Darden Smith, Western Skies is the opportunity to get to know this artist on a much deeper level than through only his songs. For fans who already have found Darden Smith, this companion book will be a joy to share his vision of Texas and get a more personal glimpse of this talented singer-songwriter/photographer and writer.

We definitely recommend listening to the accompanying music for this story. You can find that on Darden’s bandcamp here.

April 25, 2022