The main point about these poems is deep emotion and concrete theme. We notice very impressive ardour of imagination in these poems.
This is my first book of poetry and what a joy to own. “The Sound of Blossom Falling” is a collection of beautiful gems to fill your heart and mind, bringing that peace and contentment that our souls pine for. I love the style of the three sections of the book “I, us and them”. The reader can choose which collection to delve into, which is a stroke of genius by the author, and empowering to the reader. It’s also a photogenic book to show off, with Vincent’s painting of the title of the book, in vibrant colours on the cover. This is a book you will read over and over.
REVIEW
Structures within structures; a courtesy or a caution?
The Sound of Blossom Falling is a collection of poetry, crafted meticulously around known subjects yet happily structured so as to surprise without shocking. The back cover piece could be titled ‘forewarned is forearmed’.
Anglo/French poet Vincent Berquez provides the reader with a road map which, directions aside, also gives one a sense of the trajectory of his poems. He achieves this by dividing his poems into three narratives; Me, Us and Them. Published towards the end of the current global pandemic, the reader may be tempted by the thought that the ‘Me, Us and Them’ theme may perhaps be a subtle lean-in to the notion of ‘distancing’, such as it is, in this era. It is not.
Partitioning Me, Us and Them may simply be a courtesy. Writers, and poets more than any other, inevitably begin their literary journey at an early age where ‘I’ (Me) is the natural, if not entirely magnetic subject matter, as young writers search for their spot in the universe. It is a logical primary step, and more has been written about ‘I’ than any other subject. Berquez does well to warn the reader that as fine as his work is, the reader may be more interested in ‘Us’ than ‘Me’. But there is more.
Society has changed drastically in the 2020s. Our concerns today seem more aimed at the plight of ‘Them’ than Me or Us. Wittingly or not, Berquez invites the reader to choose. From this reader’s vantage point, the poems dealing with ‘Them’ are more appealing. But that is a personal matter and not a reflection of the overall work produced by Berquez. It would be interesting to know the timelines. Were these poems written in a single sitting (unlikely) or produced over several years and at various stages of the poet’s life?
The writing style, at least to this reader, falls into the general category ‘prosetry’, in that at times the language is straightforward and without pretension. The poet puts his point across without disguising the language in overreaching imagery or tangled metaphor. The same approach can be found in his art and drawings. A tree is a tree, a staircase a staircase. But it is not always so, imagery and nuance can indeed be found in abundance as in Dancing into the Cream of the Night:
Until the silver slit cracked into the shock
Of the smoky grey marbled morning
In charged anarchy, we succumbed
to fog drunkenly and lost ourselves till then.
If the short poem ‘Who told Who What’ is read out aloud, the reader, if he chooses, may detect a rapping rhythm which may remind a reader of any given American rap group and adds to the modernity with the introduction of a Crisis centre and the ever pervasive Data Protection Act. At the other end of the literary genre is the bog standard biography written in prose, which is where this work may have been destined. Doing so however, would have been a detour around the writer’s clear love of the language and rhythms offered by words when well chosen, that add music to the meaning.
A highly relatable and recognizable work with which many may identify is ‘Always the Coolest of Doorways’. A cool evening, and fueled by alcohol and the inevitable can lead to long lasting relationships that begin in typical fashion;
in our boozy, breathy pairing, as we locked tight together,
and vanished completely in a haze of shaky memories that night.
The Anglo/French ingredients that make up this poet are apparent throughout this collection of poems. The pairing of naturist/humanist does not lag far behind. At once Berquez appears an urban dweller enthralled by the countryside and, from to time, a country dweller, curious about the city; it is hard to discern where the weight of his passion lies.
A strong, salty taste pervades the poetry of Berquez. The sea is ever present. He is part Bourdain, part Cousteau, part Dylan Thomas.
In ‘A black woman and a white man’ Berquez is at his best when describing a familiar scene in gut wrenching, tragic language. There is no mistaking the event that plays out daily across the world.
The collection title ‘The Sound of Blossom Falling’ deserves its place on the cover. It is a beautiful, simple clear statement of the connection that runs from parent to child when caught in the gaze of nature.
Me 19 poems, Us 21 poems, Them 17 poems. 57 poems written with consistency and care. This poet clearly respects his readers and works hard at not obscuring the intent of his work.
Cyberwit.net (2021) |
Items in cart - View Cart 
