The Call of the Poet
Author: Angela Williams
Reviewer: Tanya
Batson-Savage
THE TITLE of Angela M. Williams' collection, The Call of the Poet speaks to the writer's approach to her work. She sees herself as called to the art of poetry. Unfortunately, it is a call that she is not yet fully equipped to answer proficiently.
Interestingly, the collection also features poems by Tanya Edwards (God is Everything, No Matter What and I Believe), Jamel Reid (Friendship and Parents), Shawn Fearon (My Parents My Hero), Karlene Fearon (I Will Never Forget), and Owen Beckford (Awakening), which suggests
that Williams is interested in encouraging others to answer their own call to poetry.
SEPARATED INTO SEGMENTS
The Call of the Poet features almost 50 poems as well as two short dramatic pieces. Most of the poetry speaks to Williams' other call, God. The collection is
separated into segments dealing with thanksgiving, faith, fear,
confidence, wisdom, dedication, nature and drama. From
thanksgiving to nature, the themes usually touch on the religious which is highlighted with the use of scriptures to be read, tagged at the end of all the pieces in the book.
Alas, though one can commend Williams' enthusiasm for both God and poetry, far too many of the pieces are lamentably bad. A few of the weak pieces in the earlier segment would actually make good prayers, though they are poor poems and though some would beg to differ, God's presence does not excuse weak poetry.
Thank You God and I Give You Thanks are two pieces that would make good prayers. In I Give You Thanks which is the stronger of the two, she highlights many of the things that people pray about and she writes about them well. Stanza two declares:
Through my heartaches
and pains
You carry me along,
I give you thanks.
You're my master, my guide
my confidant
I give you thanks.
You overlooked my
complaining;
and looked beyond my faults
and saw all my needs,
I give you thanks.
TAKES HER WORK SERIOUSLY
Some pieces unfortunately defy being categorized as poetry even bad poetry. However, even in those pieces there is a clear sense that Williams takes her work seriously, and with the poet's double succour of reading widely and constantly rewriting, there is the possibility of her answering that call well.
Pieces like Not Alone and Chant of Africa are the first indication that Williams wishes to strive toward a greater understanding of her craft. Neither, however, quite hit the mark. The Chant of Africa is certainly one of her most ambitious pieces, and though it is riddled with problems it shows her potential.
It is not until one gets to the segment on nature, however, that there is a true spark of the poetic coming from Williams. It comes through in the pieces Landscape of Fruit and Vegetables, Once Upon a Peaceful Day and The Sea. Once Upon a Peaceful Day contains two segments that are quite
commendable in both their expression and their ability to convey depth of meaning in just a few words.
The final stanza closes with the lines:
Silence tiptoed around
leaving no sound ... no voices ... just the rustling of the leaves
as he breadth of God, whispers through the leaves. While the Glory of God unfolds.
Though it is far from brilliant,
it is eons above most of
the rest of the work.
The Sea is the most consistently fluent piece that she has. Though it contains moments of clumsiness, which speaks of unfamiliarity with both the language and the art, The Sea is easily Williams most poetic piece.
Indeed, it should have been the note upon which The Call of the Poet ended. Unfortunately, the piece went on to include a drama segment, which in a word, is
lamentable.
