In Between the Lines

by James McInerney

‘In between the lines’ is a unique collection of poems written by James McInerney from 1998 – 2012.

Genres: Poetry

190 pages, Paperback

First published July 25, 2012

About the author

James grew up in an area in Northampton aptly named ‘Poets Corner’, unbeknownst that poetry was to become a huge part of his life. Having no prior interest in the subject matter in his younger years, James discovered the wonders of writing in his twenties. Mixing his own thoughts and emotions with classical and Instrumental film scores he realised for the first time in his life that there was more to writing than met the eye. With no real influences or coming from a writing background, James’s enthusiasm grew and grew and it was full steam ahead with no turning back. Not content with just writing words for his own amusement, he continued to test the boundaries to great effect. Using his new found love for writing and his in depth knowledge of the social networking sites, his resourcefulness really paid off. Attracting a lot of attention over the years, James and his works have covered a range of different media platforms from radio and local and national magazines to working with musicians and actors who have adapted and performed his works. As well as writing, James has a passion for photography. His black and white style of photography has been a huge hit on the social networking sites and something that he was praised for during his radio appearances on the BBC.

Reviews

[Andrea Hickman Walker · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a lovely book to dip in and out of. Some of the poems are not to my taste, as is to be expected, but there are some lovely, resonant pieces in the collection.

[Storm Poetry · Rating 3 out of 5]

In Between the Lines, romantic poetry for the lovelorn.


Byline: Reprint from Subterranean Blue Poetry

Title of Book: In Between the Lines

Author: James McInerney

Publisher: James McInerney

Date of Publication: 2012

Pages: 173


“I can feel your heartbeat”
- from I Can Feel Your Heartbeat by David Cassidy


In Between the Lines is romantic poetry, a reflection of conflicted love lives and the emotional violence of love lives, 21st century from James McInerney. James McInerney is a British Poet/Author/Photographer and husband with two children, born in Northampton, “Poet’s Corner”. He discovered writing in his 20’s, influenced by classical and instrumental film scores his writing turned into a passion. An internet phenomena, his work has been published in local and international magazines and he has appeared on BBC radio.

This Writer first began to take note of James McInerney on GooglePlus, the romantic theme plays catching attention and drawing me in. In Between the Lines is his first book of poetry, like reading dimestore romance novels, penny dreadfuls for the lovelorn, consuming soundbites of love. The love poetry reads as heartfelt and truthful, in first person narrative, sometimes confessional, usually in the voice of a man, sometimes in the voice of a woman. The poetry features the torments of serial love relationships woven with nature imagery. The poems rhyme frequently and obviously at the end of lines, harkening to the Romantic Poets of the early 18th century. Romantic Poetry was a reaction to Neoclassicism and the French Revolution. The latter poetry was based in reason and intellect, whilst Romantic poetry was based in love and emotion, emphasizing melancholy, subjectivity, nature and escapism, all features of In Between the Lines.

Friends

What is it in our mind,

That leads us to believe,

That people can love us,

As they use us and leave.

And what’s in our hearts,

That needs it so bad,

When we find something new,

We always seem to crave what we had.

And what of our bodies,

The physical touch,

When one night of passion,

Is often too much.

But who is it that helps,

When the relationship ends,

More important than love,

These people are our friends.

Almost like a highschool confessional, the poetry riffs on the emotional pain of broken relationships, perhaps supporting the status quo. As the poetry harkens to an old world style, and does not play with the parameters of language, it does not really shake the world into a true anarchy. However, in the truthtelling itself is groundbreaking revelation, telling of the violence of emotional pain when an intimate love relationship ends.

Scars For An Angel

In my fragile state,

There’s always a potential for harm,

Because the smile I show the world,

Hides all the cuts upon my arms.

The wounds will always heal,

But they leave behind their scars,

And I’m reminded as I cry,

Of all the pain left in my heart.

If there’s a beauty deep within me,

Tell me where does it sleep?

For I’m so tired of being something ugly,

That no one ever needs.

I keep praying that an angel,

Will wake me from this dream,

But it’s hard to believe in heaven,

When I have no self-esteem.

If I told you all my reasons,

I know you’d never understand,

I’m not asking for forgiveness,

Just a friend to hold my hand.

Some of the poetry is like a mumenchance, and somewhat trite, while some of the poetry you fall into like a good love affair that captures the heart. Like a stage play, the twists and turns of a love relationship, romance by candy. A poetry writing gift will ripen over time, it evolves and morphs in fantastical ways, it is important to keep writing and polish the language, the images. There is great healing in artistic endeavour and those that witness the gift can also be inspired and helped with healing. For a first book of poetry, the truthtelling is brave and inspiring showing promise.

Eros

For my wings I have no use,

To reach heaven

I need neither fly nor soar,

But instead fall,

Fall in love.

I read James McInerney regularly on GooglePlus, the poetry is often presented in calligraphy or pictured inside frames and his writing has become more profound and therefore more interesting, like falling into a love affair on a summer’s day. You can also find videos featuring his poetry on YouTube and he has his own WebSite @ www.jamesmcinerney.wix.com/poetry. He has just published his second book of poetry, Bloom, which I am looking forward to reading.

Genre: Poetry

[Jasmine · Rating 3 out of 5]

(3.5 out of 5 Stars)
This is my first poetry book that I've ever read-and own- so I had an expectation that this book will be my first great experience into the world of poetry.
However, it didn't exactly blew me away like I hoped it would be.

So why only 3.5 you may ask?

Well, first off, let's get one thing straight: It has nothing to do with James's writing/poetry skills. It was great! To me, any poet who writes from the heart has amazing talent (not all, of course, like not all prose writers, are amazing). Although there was one word that was repeated, and that is "Oh". I realized, as I read along, that the word itself seems unnecessary to use. It may of been popular to start of with "oh" decades-or even centuries ago- to give off that "poetic feel", but I think we can better off without it, or at least minimize it in usage. I also realized that I used that word a lot as well in my poems, so it's a good thing that I caught onto it so I can cut off some of them if necessary. Then there were some grammar issues with the apostrophes (probably while printing it), which was a bit annoying, but nothing to burn the house to the ground with.

The problem I had was the overall tonality/mood of the book itself.

Now, the theme for the book is definitely Love. Who doesn't love Love? (If you don't love Love, then either you're a robot or a human with no soul- which actually makes you're a monster. No... A monster would even sometimes has a heart or a love to eat humans up, so you're worse than that. OK, I'm going off track here...) I agree that even Love has its ups and true beauty, it can also has its downs and could really screw up your life. That is what James touches on throughout this poem. It's important to learn both sides of the ultimate human emotion so we won't get blindsided by either one side.
I felt that the overall mood on the them/topic is gloomy, sad, and a downer for me personally. He also talks about the hardships of life (there sure is some), but that's mostly all I got from it. Of course, there are several poems that ARE uplifting and beautiful that made me feel happy. I like it how his fascination for trees is special (Trees are awesome). And of his care for children is super nice and beautiful, too.

When I first received this book months ago in April, I started reading it out-of-order, but since July, I began doing it chronologically. Now, I don't know if it's because I read it this way in several sittings instead of normally taking my time with it (little by little), but as I read into the middle of the book, it started to drag. Towards the end, it became a little bit better again.

Here's what I think how a poetry book should be done: Balance.
It's important to show deep, raw emotion, whether it's positive, negative, or somewhere in-between. But if you outweigh one of the emotions over the other, it can become either unrealistic or really dragging. That was the problem for me, but do note that this is just a personal opinion. I love to feel something powerful, deep, and moving, but I really also love to read poems that are happy, simplistic, fun, and most importantly, inspirational. I love balance, and that's what I hope to gain in my own poetry journey. Of course, I didn't know what to expect from this book. I just know that James is talented in his poems when I first read them on Twitter. This (his poems) was collected when he was around my age growing up, so I guess it makes since why the tone is the way it is. We go through some deep stuff, man.

But fret not! I did enjoyed this book because... well- Poetry! Duh! Maybe in the future, I hope to find more poetry books/anthologies that could change my life and blow me away (whatever that means...).

(And James, if you see this review, I just want to let you know to keep up the good work! Continue to be raw, continue to be vocal, and most importantly, just keep writing poems. From one fellow poet to another, we got this.)

[Tanya · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautifully written poetry. My favourite is "Keeper" although every poem is so emotional and thought provoking. Definitely recommend this.

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Astounding!

Loved the poems and felt every emotion that James put in those poems. almost as if a short story was told on each page.

[Sarah Markbride · Rating 5 out of 5]

James writes the most beautiful poetry. He beats r.m drake and Lang leav without a doubt for me