Mel Cooke, Freelance Writer
'See The World' book cover. - CONTRIBUTED
SEE THE World Through My Eyes, the title of Yvonne Nugent's book of verse, is literally an invitation to view the world from her perspective. And it is a worthwhile perspective, as in the book's five chapters Nugent addresses international politics and black issues, Africa and the diaspora, women, children, and finally, black men and writing, in that order.
See The World through My Eyes is illustrated by I. Brooks. However, while Nugent's general topics are interesting and the individual poems within the sections show insight in exploring various aspects of the general theme, far too many times she makes statements rather than creates images, relying on the strength of her views rather than the art of her chosen form, poetry. This is especially so in the first two chapters, as in the opening poem 'Plan For Supremacy' she writes "I'm here to tell 'The Klaus Klux Klan' and British National Party, you are the anti-Christ and that includes the Illuminati's". Fair enough, as far as the views go, but they are nowhere near strikingly original in thought or, failing that, at least very well put.
IMPROVEMENTS
There is an improvement in the chapter three, where Nugent addresses the ladies in 'Ladies make Your Own Paper', 'Cry No More' and 'Invasion', among
others. 'Invasion', which appears to be a personal treatment of assault, is moving, saying "invading my space Like I'm not a part Of the human race Smiling like you the man Smirking in my face". And in 'Don't Cry No More' she addresses abuse with "Friends at work say, 'leave' but it is not as simple as that,/I have got kids to think about,/They love their father and that's a hard fact". The expression is far from spectacular, but the insight is worthwhile.
Unfortunately, in chapter four, Nugent regresses to the stage of the first two chapters, asking in the voice of a child "someone, anyone Please!/Build a future for us,/You live your life,/Unaware of all the fuss" in the opening 'The Future Through The Eyes of a Child'.
She redeems herself somewhat in the final chapter, referring to men walking with that "third degree male stride" ('You've Got Male') and "boys are taught not to cry/emotions have no manly relevance" in 'Structure of Perfection'.
A note at the beginning of the book from publishers PublishAmerica (which probably means you pay to get your book published) says that "at the specific preference of the author, PublishAmerica allowed this work to remain exactly as the author intended, verbatim, without editorial input". And well indeed they may distance themselves from the glaring errors which keep cropping up - "the Caribbean provide essential sugar cane" in 'Water Lilies', "without me face hitting the ground" in 'Don't Cry No More' and "bad mind is worst than witchcraft" in 'Women Hating Women' among them.
