CEREMONIOUS

by Brooke Nicole Plummer, Edward Wells (Editor)

Poetry

89 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2021

Reviews

[Kristiane Weeks-Rogers · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ceremonious is surrealist documentation of Midwestern cultural inquiry. Each utterance is poetically full of the heaviness from those stuck in the regions sapped grasp. Plummer brazenly pay homage to the rust belt’s grotesque beauty, bringing a gentleness in the reflection of a tattered plain, pulling readers into the timelessness and timeliness through contemporary brands like Marathon, Toyota, Jolly Rancher, and Pabst Blue Ribbon.

Ceremonious encourages us to go boldly into the sharp-toothed night, fully aware of each star and violent muck dropped into the cracks of the streets with tender rose-tinted hearts and eyes.

[James IV · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brooke Nicole Plummer's use of linguistic imagery in CEREMONIOUS is impressive. Her poems not only paint vivid mental pictures, but she also hits you with a beautifully structured poem titled "DON'T CRY IF YOU WOULDN"T DIE FOR IT" from the start. About our life experiences being continual self-enhancement. Sliding down and climbing up the grand scheme of things. I wholeheartedly agree.

From there she goes on to write about patterns and connections in her hometown, the search for meaning, the unknown, and the moments in between that make us who we are. At its core, CEREMONIOUS is a love letter to the midwest. Full of eloquently written ballads for the working-class underdog, peppered with contemporary and pop culture.

My personal favorite poem is actually one of the shortest in the book; this little powder keg on page 72...

"GREEN MALAY"

The bones of the world
contribute to manuscript.

Those who stole our hearts
& stomped out
aren’t gonna
be flooding the streets
like us.

Lost in subtle metaphor,
I’m cleansing all my multi-spheres
or fist-fighting
my “nothing is meant for this.”

I cannot live another life