I enjoy how some poetry collections can give an impressionistic feel for an individual's life. Rachel Long's poems in her debut collection “My Darling from the Lions” link hands to form a portrait of its narrator experience. The poems alternate between quiet moments of introspection and distinct observations about a series of spirited personalities. But there is also a self-consciousness where the narrator is aware of being perceived and interpreted. A series of short poems all labelled 'Open' describe the narrator's experience in a state of sleep or repose where different people around her make the same or similar observations. This conveys something so striking about experience as we feel it as opposed to how others see us inhabiting the world from the outside.
Some poems such as 'Helena', 'Red Hoover', 'Bloodlines' and 'Danielle's Dad' are more narrative based as they are clearly rooted in a particular time and place and convey a specific experience. Others are somewhat more abstract in how they express a mood or a subtle moment of realization or transformation. The striking poem '8' describes the ritualized labour of being cleansed as a woman “for men to crawl out and in” so there's a haunting sense of how religion and maternal forces claim and prepare young female bodies for the patriarchy. Another perspective on emerging female sexuality is given in the poem 'Red Roof' which feels almost taboo with its frank portrayal of young girls exploring their own and each others' genitals. Existing somewhere out of time is the object of 'The Musical Box' and this poem beautifully expresses the experience and emotions of people in our lives when they were younger and before we were born. The poem 'And then there was the time I got into a fight' is charged with indignation as children at a school don't believe the man picking the narrator up is her father. Many of the poems are also imbued with a sly sense of humour and this is most strongly expressed in the satirical poem 'The Sharks and Victoria Beckham'.
Some of the poems I liked the most describes unexpected moments of tenderness such as 'Car Sweetness' where parents are caught in a rare moment of romantic connection touching each others' hands. I also enjoyed how the narrator obtains a glimpse into her mother's interior life when a private diary is uncovered in the poem 'Inside'. This is quite a different look at the woman who “combs her auburn 'fro up high” as glimpsed in another poem 'Orb'. Together these poems express a curiosity and wonder about people close to us as we collect bits and pieces of their complex existence. The poems in this book lay these observations out like a precious collection to admire and contemplate.
