What do you think?
Rate this book
The weight of flames
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 of 1 review
June 28, 2012
This is the first volume of Bernadette Rule's poetry I ever read. Here's how it happened. One night I attended a literary event at which three authors read excerpts from their works. The first two were familiar authors who belonged to my own community.
The third was Bernadette, a poet who was born and raised in Kentucky and now lives in Ontario. She read a few pieces from this volume. One of them was the final poem, "Friday Night Benediction." It washed over the audience like music, celebrating the beauties of nature, evoking animals, the sunset, the twilight sky, the stars coming out. The tone was lyrical, peaceful, and prayerful, without being overly emphatic about its Catholic spirituality.
I was impressed enough by what I had heard to buy a copy of the book which she obligingly autographed and dated. About seven years later, we met again serendipitously at a social event. In surprise, I asked her if she was that poet who had done the reading from The Weight of Flames years ago. Probably surprised and flattered (what author doesn't like to receive unexpected compliments on her work?), she sat down to talk with me. We started a conversation about reading and writing that has never really stopped.
The forty-eight poems in this volume are written in free verse. Some different verse forms are used. There are many striking metaphors and turns of phrase. The length varies from a few lines to a page or two. Some poems narrate personal memories or paint vividly recalled scenes while others evoke keenly felt emotions in a lovely, painful, humorous, nostalgic or tender way. Some of the most beautiful pieces involve the poet's contemplation of nature and her intimate maternal feelings toward her children.
Here's a very short sample which shows how she uses an image taken from nature to suggest a layer of spiritual meaning in a playful yet remarkable way.
Cana
Autumn dusk
Leaves ferment in puddles
Red wine
When I first read this, I looked at it and thought: "What...?" Then the meaning hit me. The delight was as much in this moment of discovery as in the significance of the metaphor itself.
I cannot pick up this book without thinking of the poet who has become not only a mentor but also a friend.
The third was Bernadette, a poet who was born and raised in Kentucky and now lives in Ontario. She read a few pieces from this volume. One of them was the final poem, "Friday Night Benediction." It washed over the audience like music, celebrating the beauties of nature, evoking animals, the sunset, the twilight sky, the stars coming out. The tone was lyrical, peaceful, and prayerful, without being overly emphatic about its Catholic spirituality.
I was impressed enough by what I had heard to buy a copy of the book which she obligingly autographed and dated. About seven years later, we met again serendipitously at a social event. In surprise, I asked her if she was that poet who had done the reading from The Weight of Flames years ago. Probably surprised and flattered (what author doesn't like to receive unexpected compliments on her work?), she sat down to talk with me. We started a conversation about reading and writing that has never really stopped.
The forty-eight poems in this volume are written in free verse. Some different verse forms are used. There are many striking metaphors and turns of phrase. The length varies from a few lines to a page or two. Some poems narrate personal memories or paint vividly recalled scenes while others evoke keenly felt emotions in a lovely, painful, humorous, nostalgic or tender way. Some of the most beautiful pieces involve the poet's contemplation of nature and her intimate maternal feelings toward her children.
Here's a very short sample which shows how she uses an image taken from nature to suggest a layer of spiritual meaning in a playful yet remarkable way.
Cana
Autumn dusk
Leaves ferment in puddles
Red wine
When I first read this, I looked at it and thought: "What...?" Then the meaning hit me. The delight was as much in this moment of discovery as in the significance of the metaphor itself.
I cannot pick up this book without thinking of the poet who has become not only a mentor but also a friend.
Displaying 1 of 1 review