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Title: Thoughtful Prose
Author: Violet Davis Camp
Publisher: Publish America
Genre: Poetry
Copyright: 2005
ISBN: 1-4137-9557-9
Number of pages: 114
Reviewer: Jan Ackerson
Available From:
Publish America
Amazon
The great American poet William Carlos Williams wrote a poem that I've remembered ever since first reading it in high school. This poem has only sixteen words in four lines, and mentions such prosaic items as a red wheelbarrow and white chickens, yet it paints a word picture every bit as profound as a Shakespearean sonnet. Many of the poems in Violet Davis Camps' Thoughtful Prose have a similar quality. None of them is longer than eight lines, and some have only two, yet nearly every little poem in this slim volume communicates peace, restfulness, contentment. Consider this gem:
Slow Time
The sun shines on the snow
Far away where it's so slow
And time is just a speck
And time is just a speck.
The repeated last line put me in mind of Robert Frost's "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening," and produced a similar mood of serenity.
Other poems in the book reflect the poet's deep faith:
Light
Seeing a light in the darkness
Is like a word
Of pure delight
There are many others that I'd love to quote here--sweet, miniature verses that I can easily imagine rendered in needlepoint or calligraphy, or sold on posters, bookmarks, and calendars.
As lovely as Camp's poetry is, the book does suffer somewhat from lack of editing. There are errors in both punctuation and grammar, and the poems that rhyme sometimes lack consistent meter. There is a certain charm in the simplicity of these verses; however, taken as a whole, the book's simplicity becomes almost childlike (the entire book can be read in a ten-minute sitting). Finally, I believe that the book would have been more accurately titled Thoughtful Poetry.
Even so, many readers will love this book, particularly those who appreciate the serenity of a delightful word picture. Readers can pick up Thoughtful Prose, turn to any random page, and find a pleasing treat.
Contentment
Peace and contentment
Will come to you
When peace and contentment
Is all you attempt
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