The Pocketbook of Sunshine and Rain

by Nenia Campbell

be my sonata, my cantata, my love
sing me something sweet
but not too sweet
(or i may grow deaf to our harmony
as we decrescendo into silence)

This personal book of poetry focuses on that tricky phenomenon that escapes all of what it means to be human and alive.

Genres: Poetry, Ebooks, Nonfiction

59 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 18, 2017

About the author

Nenia Campbell is a dark romance author who lives in San Francisco, California. When she's not writing, or reading, she can be found roaming the city or curled up with her void cat. She collects romance novels older than she is and loves a villain with flair.

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Reviews

[Carmen · Rating 4 out of 5]

your inaccessible orbit
fills me with such gravity;

in the constellation of our sky,
our love is written in the pulsating
((emanations))

of a hundred thousand neutron stars*

will my love for you collapse
or will it explode? my heart, -
it weighs so heavily:

a bloodred pulsar
bleeding dry.


Nenia Campbell has decided to publish a poetry book, let's discuss this!


sorrows fall lightly upon me,
like snowflakes.
i stick out my tongue
and taste them,
salty as tears.


Nenia Campbell is my friend on GR. Don't think that means I am going to give her any quarter, because... fuck that shit. And I already told her no quarter would be given. So.

I wasn't quite sure what to expect, I've been avoided Nenia's fiction because she likes dark themes, and I hate dark themes, and reading about some dark romance is not my idea of a good time. But then I heard she was publishing poetry and giving it out for free, so I was like, "Hmmmmm."

Well, I am happy to report that there is no bad poetry in here. There may be poetry you don't enjoy in here, but it's not bad. Which is a relief. Bad poetry is poetry that is written abysmally. Poetry you don't enjoy is just poetry you don't enjoy. I hope I'm explaining this clearly.

I love poetry; probably not a lot of people on GR realize this except for certain GR friends who will remain unnamed. So Campbell had a fair shot here, I've read the reviews on this book and realize a lot of people picked this up despite the fact that they did not enjoy poetry. Not the case with me.

Nenia Campbell appears to love nature, seasons, and space. Color me surprised, I didn't really see that coming from her. Huh, who knew? I expected more on art, women, and food - and there is some of that in here, but not as much as I had expected.

Another thing I liked about this poetry (and Campbell herself) is her use of big words. I jones on her extensive vocabulary.

There's some stuff in here I really like. The two poems quoted above, and:


when i am dead i shall be no more
i shall be no more forever
the eyes that are my eyes shall close
they will see no more forever
the lips that are my lips will shut
they will speak no more forever
the heart that was my heart will stop
it will beat no more forever
the spark that lit my skull shall die
i shall be no more forever


Simple yet effective. And it's about death, I'm weak for poems about death.

I think it is Campbell's galaxy poems I enjoy the most, though.


i feel the breath of stars on my neck
from the mouth of the heavens
to the base of my skull
shivering atoms
i feel the pulse of quasars in my blood
clockwork of the universe
winding my helices
spinning in space
internal, eternal
external
i am a storm of molecules
that lit the heavens
i am the vibration of a hundred suns
i am dark matter
and light
i am
ma i


Yes, this sounds good to me. Her nature poetry is also nothing to sneeze at:


i cannot see the thread from which she hangs
against the sun stained curtains' gold red fire
one leg points upward like a bony finger
or apex of a shiny gothic spire

her other legs lie curled against her web
intimate with the twitches of her lines
she waits, an astral figure in midair
seeking the flotsam that the breeze may find
wafting into her net: the wayward moth,
or vagrant fly, and wandering lacewing lost

in a moment's blink she has them cast
in ties of finest silk, she makes them fast
what is their future now but her repast?

I mean, just look at that last stanza. Just look at it - what is she doing here? It's amazing. Fast! Future! Repast! Are you fucking kidding me right now. The skillz.

I didn't enjoy the human/relationship/women poems as much, but she had certain gems.


i lied to you
when I said "i love you"
i am more ambiguous
than these simple words
i devour you, at times,
with my affection
dreams of your absence
wake me, crying
but i have hated you
in anger
imagined you dead
and smiled.
so i lied to you
when i said "i love you"
but what else could i
have said?

I mean, this feels very true to me. It feels like a very true poem. She has another great one about growing up and being an adult which is very astute.

Well, I can't quote every good poem in here. You are going to have to see for yourself. But let's talk about ones that are not to my taste.


congratulations
you have won this beautiful life
there are some small imperfections
looked at with a loupe
some damage
here and there
but it wears well
no one will notice
you may pay
you will pay
everyone does
eventually

This means nothing to me.


i thought i saw america slipping by
as if a page ripped out of some great atlas
had fallen free
sweeping upon the currents of the air
like some great fluttering leaf
lacking a firm direction

yet suspiciously it always seems
to us in time and place with what we see
that things float freer than they truly are
and do not men in almost any time
lament lack of a firm direction?

perhaps the future is firm in infirmity
in seeming weakness lying greatest strength
the force applied to freedoms of degree
is force applied to pliant resiliency

I don't understand this poem. At all. Although "perhaps the future is firm in infirmity" is rather charming.


Poems I liked: 15
Poems I disliked: 10
Poems I felt 'meh' about: 28

How's that for a rundown? It's actually a pretty good ratio for a poetry book. There's always going to be poems that you like more than others in a poetry collection, even a poetry collection by a single author.


TL;DR: If you enjoy poetry and don't believe it has to rhyme, there's no reason not to check it out. Especially when Campbell offers it for free. Usually I believe it is ninety-nine cents. If you don't enjoy poetry or only like rhyming poems, avoid this. Some of her poems are better than others - I especially enjoyed her nature and space poems - but none of it is crap, I'm relieved to say. There are poems I don't like or even disagree with in here, but it's not garbage.

Nenia Campbell has a fascinating mind, I'm glad I read this.

P.S. Read this five times in order to write a fair and accurate review. Next time I read it, it will be my sixth.

[Alex ☣ Deranged KittyCat ☣ · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars

That was a fast read. Don't be fooled by how long it took me to finish it. It's been crazy for me lately. Lots of changes in a short amount of time, so reading had to be put off.

Back to Nenia's Pocketbook, I'll be honest and admit that I prefer her novels. Somehow I didn't click with her poetry style. Maybe I wasn't sad enough to be able to enjoy it.

You should get it and decide for yourself. ;)

as i combed my hair this evening
in the dark
with only the moon
shining in the window
you told me how beautiful i was
to you
and i know you meant it
which makes all the difference

*******************************************

[May 7th 2017] I just got Nenia's little poetry book for free from Amazon. She says it's free all weekend. ;)

[TL *Humaning the Best She Can* · Rating 3 out of 5]

Confessions: Nenia is my friend here on Goodreads (she is an awesome person)...but this does not affect my opinion in any way... all my opinions are my own. :) This is my first of Nenia's work:)

I'm no expert on Poetry... I've only read and liked a handful of poems (some in front of books I've read, or heard characters say in movies/books). It's a genre I do want to explore more so when I saw Nenia had a collection out, I jumped at the chance soon as I could.

Some I liked better than others but on the whole, I loved this collection. Nenia covers a range of topics and paints a beautiful picture.

"so i keep pieces of myself locked
in a yellow plastic suitcase
because i am afraid that a part of me
might get left

~~!~
"i feel the breath of stars on my neck
from the mouth of the heavens
to the base of my skull
shivering atoms
i feel the pulse of quasars in my blood
clockwork of the universe
winding my helices
spinning in space
internal, eternal
external
i am a storm of molecules
that lit the heavens
i am the vibration of a hundred suns
i am dark matter
and light
i am
ma i "
3.5 stars overall... go check it out :)

[s · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was such a beautifully written collection of poetry, I highly recommend you all read it. (It's also currently free so grab the copy on Amazon!)

P.S now I want to read more awesome poetry, any recommendations peeps?

i lied to you
when I said “i love you”
i am more ambiguous
than these simple words
i devour you, at times,
with my affection
dreams of your absence wake me, crying
but i have hated you
in anger
imagined you dead
and smiled.
so i lied to you
when i said “i love you”
but what else could i have said??

[nemo ☠️ · Rating 4 out of 5]

"we are born of the base & beautiful;
and as we were dredged from past remnants,
so shall we yield ourselves to the new"

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

Considering this author is primarily known for her pulpy (in a good way) novels, this poetry collection actually caught me off guard. Utterly poignant and heartfelt... I could tell she really poured herself into this work.

I don’t often read cover-to-cover poetry volumes like this; instead, I prefer to read individual poems in a more sporadic manner. But with this book, I kept telling myself “just one more for tonight” until there were no more pages left to turn.

Some of the pieces didn’t connect with me, but the majority of them truly did. I especially loved the imagery the author evoked whenever she made seasonal references (particularly those involving winter and snow) in some of the poems.

[Heather ~*dread mushrooms*~ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Disclaimer: Nenia is my friend, but this doesn't affect my rating.

I've never been big on poetry. I do enjoy it occasionally, and even write it sometimes, but most often it doesn't speak to me. When I do read poetry, I prefer it very structured and rhyming.

That said, I applaud Campbell's efforts here. Poems are often really personal, and they aren't easy to write. I've read her poetry before in Wishing Stars: Space Opera Fairytales. The poems in Pocketbook are more modern in theme, picking out seemingly mundane slices of life and expounding on them. Most of them don't rhyme, but my favorites were the ones that did: specifically "cry, cry, my love" and the one about the grays of the sky. Also, the one about childhood was really poignant.

it feels like i cannot go on
when you look at me through
eyeslikerazorblades
so cruel & sharp &
each and every
gaze is
raking
me
a/part

[Katie O’Reilly · Rating 4 out of 5]

“We are born of the base and the beautiful” was a banger poem. There’s also one about burying the corpse of your arguments & then digging up the bones that was really good. I enjoyed these & can now congratulate myself on my erudition for reading poetry!!

[Tanya T. · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good collection of poems!

I'm friends with Nena on Goodreads so I jumped on the chance to read this. This was a very good collection of poems!

[Mel Steadman Hunt · Rating 4 out of 5]

*3.5 stars*

I've never been a poetry reader, but I want to branch out my reading more so decided to give this a try. I found the majority of the poems beautiful and touching. Nenia really has a way with words, and it was so nice to read something different.

[Sassy Sarah Reads · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Pocketbook of Sunshine and Rain by Nenia Campbell

4.5 stars

I'm new to poetry. The only poetry I've really read before this year was Edgar Allen Poe and Frost, but this year I tried Milk and Honey. I liked Milk and Honey, but something about it felt forced and fake in certain areas. My biggest problem with the poetry was just a couple of random words strewn together to create a meaningless sentence. This on the other hand was a poetry collection that really spoke to me. I've been wanting to get into poetry, but never really know where to start. I'm a friend of Nenia's and was excited to check out her poetry collection since I've known her on GR for so long and remember when she started working on the collection.

These poems are beautiful. There are a few hit or miss ones, but the majority were gorgeous and had me shaking my head in agreement or saying, "THIS!!" while reading. I don't really know what else to say about a poetry collection other than that this is definitely one that you should check out. I'll leave a couple of my favorite poems down below and hopefully that will convince you to buy this because I think it's absolutely brilliant and a lot of these poems touched my heart.

Whimsical Writing Scale: 4.5

This is my favorite:
we buried the corpses of our arguments
beneath the dining room table
picked over the bones, emergent,
and threw them at each other
a knuckle bone here
a rib there
no prayers were said
no flowers laid
only a hailstorm of finger bones
to lard our dinner conversation
picking the shards out of our teeth
we spit them at each other
always hoping someone would choke

Another great one:
a path of stars
growing, spiraling
swirling in the darkness
not everyone sees a path of stars
spinning above them
feels the light pouring down
drowning the world
a path of stars like whirlpools
conceived by separate suns
a starry night

I hope I convinced you to pick this collection up. I'm not a poetry buff, but I do know emotions and Nenia's emotions were spoken in this collection beautifully. All empathetic souls should pick up a copy.

Cover Thoughts: It's adorable and it really fits the tone of the collection.

[La Coccinelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Poetry is hard to review. It's so subjective. I don't read a lot of it, so I'm not sure how qualified I am to critique it. But I do know that I enjoy reading words put together in unique and interesting ways. With poetry, you can use all the lovely words you want without ending up sounding too... well, purple. (I guess that's why the term is "purple prose", not "purple poetry".)

This is a nice little collection that can be read in an afternoon (if you're not excruciatingly slow like I am). I highlighted a few of the poems as I went through, simply because the words struck a chord, or I liked a certain turn of phrase. There weren't any poems I really disliked, although there were a few that I didn't completely understand. (I also came across a few words that didn't seem to make sense. With poetry, though, it's sometimes hard to know if it was intentional and I just missed the point.)

Overall, a nice collection of poems. Lovely words. Lovely thoughts. Worth a look if you enjoy a bit of verse every now and then.

Quotable moment:

out go my words on paper wings
they fly off on their own
and if they do not find their way
will they come limping home?

[Alyson Stone · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book: The Pocketful of Sunshine and Rain
Author: Nenia Campbell
Rating: 4 Out of 5 Stars

This is my first full length Nenia Campbell book. I have been read a few of Nenia’s things on fictionpress and have really enjoyed them. The Pockeful of Sunshine and Rain was not a disappointment. This is a delightful and wonderful work of poetry. It’s simply written, but elegant.

Now, let me start out by saying that I am not a fan of poetry. I don’t like the complex nature that many authors use. Nenia’s book is written in an everyday language that is both pleasing to the mind and eyes. I am simply in love with the smoothness and gentle nature of the poems. They are so simple, but so well done.

Nenia captures the emotion of humans with such a rich tone. It is realistic and written with love; the passion just seems to come right off the page. The emotion is rich. We get a mixture of loneliness and awareness of the everyday nature of human lives. We get to experience heartbreak and death in a way that may have not been expressed in the written word before. It is not all gloom and doom, but a celebration of who we are and where we are going.

This is just a beautiful collection of poems. The beauty of it is that it’s short. The entire collection is only sixty pages long. If you are looking for something short and easy to read, then this may be the book for you. If you are looking for something to make you feel something, then this is totally the book for you.

[A.M. · Rating 4 out of 5]

A la Ray Bradbury, one of my to do items daily for 2020 was to read a poem, but I got a bit tired of Milton. Then this showed up in my feed, and it’s lovely.
Writing poetry must be so hard; it feels so much more personal - if that makes sense. And it’s modern poetry - or as one GR person has it labelled ‘for Poetry Fans Who Don't Require Rhyming’
Right.
4 stars

[Saskia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just what I needed today. <3

[Kylie Swift 31 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Beautiful poems with plenty of descriptive imagery.