From the Darkroom to the Light of Day
It takes time in the dark room to bring lived-experience into focus and to develop the meaning we’ve made of our lives. That is the theme of my latest poetry book, Poems from the Darkroom. I imagined the process of writing as excavating and examining foundational memories, choosing the ones that illuminate the gold of the inner life, and then hanging them for viewing in a retrospective show. Imprinted stills / Proof of life / Picked up at the corners / and held to the light / Now dredged and named / and hung one by one / We signed the originals / while still recognizable
From the darkroom to the bright pages of a book, as if telling a fairytale with obstacles and magical forces at play, the poems are born from the practice of giving the soul’s journey its right of way. When the soul takes the lead / there’s a deep delving / There’s a widening horizon / with the narrowing of life
Part poetry memoir, part therapy and legacy, the poems in Poems from the Darkroom are personal, generational and universal, where science, mythology and imagination converge, where grief is imbued with an honoring of the past. I imagine my mother’s kitchen / still existing somewhere in time / after the big bang / and near a bright galaxy / that a giant telescope can see…
There is biographical and generational storytelling … When Lucy and Desi slept in twin beds / And children hid under desks during nuclear drills / You played with matches / and picked your favorite Beatle / while your heroes were assassinated / and your brother was drafted…
There are poems that reflect the state of the world… The night the world fell apart / it thawed and violently dropped / It snapped and crashed in chunks / and loudly broke its wholeness
Aging as a developmental stage of mind and body shapeshifting is expressed with honesty and curiosity. Loss as a part of aging and the magic trick of being here one minute and gone the next is a theme throughout the book. Now I’m first of six / unanchored from my sidekicks / The children are orphans / marooned from the mainland / and I am an Island / waiting for a ship
Dreams. Not as platitudes or lofty goals, but the unruly kind we have a night when no one is looking. I don’t look away from a dark dream or feeling because they inform me about the state of my psyche and let me know what needs tending to. Buried like bodies / waiting to be claimed / they’re odd for a reason / to get our attention
Some of the poems explore the creative process of writing poetry… When our eyes become / adjusted to darkness / we call ourselves poets / We wait for poems / that fit like skin / We dream them / from a distance / then write them close in…
Other poems could double for personal intros or bios. I’m not an easy catch / but don’t play hard to get / I’m best read / with eyes squinted / with head tilted / and feet on the ground / I’m a one and only / best-kept secret / that doesn’t claim / to be your favorite
And who knew that poetry as depth psychology could also include flashes of humor? When my husband gets bored and restless / he thinks about changing jobs / I just change the color of my nightgown / But is has to be silk… Colleen Redman
Post Note: Please consider purchasing a copy of Poems from the Darkroom from Amazon and possibly writing a review. The book can also be purchased locally at The Floyd Country Store or The Harvest Moon Food store.