Marrow, Willow

by Maureen Hynes

Covering and uncovering, exposure and these are themes that permeate Maureen Hynes's new work. The collection is different in tone from Hynes's previous a more hopeful and open work, delighting in the joys of mid-life love. Uncovered continues and deepens some previous themes, such as friendship, family and travel; taking stock of the dire developments in the world around us, particularly environmental ones; and coping with the human project of mortality. Hynes is asking what we can create to heal and improve and revivify our world. Hynes's poems retain a strong personal voice that integrates experience, emotion and observation, deeply rooted in daily life. In the way that all good poetry takes the time to reveal or "uncover" layers of reality often overlooked, Hynes's fine, thoughtful and deeply textured poems surprise and satisfy.

Genres: Poetry

101 pages, Paperback

First published April 28, 2011

About the author

As a poet, editor and educator, Maureen believes that good art is like a flamenco dance -- urgent, passionate, brilliant! It wakes us up, opens us up and makes us more aware.

A primary principle for her own work is for it to be holistic – that it intensely engage cognition, our senses and our emotions, which are such mysterious masters and servants in our lives, but which also form the constellation that makes us human.

"My poetry," says Maureen, "is always an attempt to go deeper, mostly into a lot of commonplace experiences, situations or vistas to find the still moment where a small connection or realization can be made, hopefully with poetic grace. Sort of like following a thread into the underworld, and not always possible until well after the experience.”

Reviews

[Debbie Hill · Rating 5 out of 5]

The work was beautifully written and the first person point of view made the poems feel more intimate...like one friend chatting to another. In her poem "Sky Rivers" she wrote: "Heat is the spoon, says the meteorologist, that sirs/our weather. Mark how our touch warms the world." Like an oar dipped into a lake during a serene canoe ride, Hynes steers us equally through urban and rural landscapes pointing out poignant images along the way. It's her unique use of metaphors and her ability to move me emotionally that captured my attention. I look forward to reading more of her work.

[Lauren · Rating 3 out of 5]

Favourite poems: "Sky Rivers" "Black, Brown, White and Grey" "The Hanged Man"

[RKF · Rating 4 out of 5]

🤎 A genuine simplicity and uniqueness molded together 🤎