Book Review: Love is the New Black, by Cameron Semmens

Review by Andrea Grigg

I’m not normally a huge poetry fan, but when I picked up Cameron Semmens’ Love is the New Black from the bookstall at our lrecent Christian Writers’ Conference, I had to have it!

My copy of Love is the New Black is a third edition. It was first published back in 2009, under the title 23 Versions of Psalm 23, but since then, Cameron has added fresh material, and I love it!

The book is divided into eight sections:

1.    Love, Loved, Loving

2.    23 Versions of Psalm 23

3.    Brilliant Bible Bits

4.    Behold, Christmas Retold

5.    Questions, Questions, Questions

6.    The Messiah’s Message on the Mount

7.    Prayers for Wonderers and Wanderers

8.    Appendices Please!

Cameron’s Christmas story, Star! Stable! Saviour! was featured on our ACRBA tour on Tuesday. (You can read that here) I adore this book, as have all the children I’ve read it to. It’s fun to read as everything begins with the letter ‘S’ – how clever is that? In the same vein, section 3 of Love is the New Black contains 12 poems, each one highlighting a letter of the alphabet.

Here’s an example from ‘Messiah Makes Meal for Massive Multitude’:

Midday, and the Messiah mentioned to his mates,

            ‘Migrate with me to a meadow

            For a moment’s meditation.’

The Messiah and the Messiah’s mates moseyed to the marina

            Where the mono-masted mono-hull was moored.

The multitude mobbing the Messiah mourned the moving,

            and enmeshed in Messiah-mania,

             moved methodically meadow-wards.

Brilliant, isn’t it?

Section 4 is particularly pertinent, being all about Christmas. While there are a number of humorous poems, there are also many thought-provoking ones. There are four under the heading of Imagine this Christmas, from the perspectives of Mary, Joseph, a shepherd and then God himself. I found them particularly touching.

My favourite section though is the one containing the versions of Psalm 23. There are many entertaining poems, like The Twenty-Third Jedi (Yoda is my shepherd, want not shall I), or The Lamb’s Side (My Lord is the shepherd, I shall not bleat) but while the poems may be funny, they tug on the heartstrings too. I read a couple to my Bible study group and there were some tears amongst the laughter.

Here are the first two stanzas of The 23^rd Calm …

            (breathe)

           

            The Lord is my shepherd,

            I shall not stress.

           (breathe)

           He makes me lie down in green pastures for natural aromatherapy

           He leads me to quiet waters to ensure good hydration

           He restores my stillness.

           He guides me in paths of tranquility for His name's sake.

           (breathe)

And the first two from The Desperate Prayer of the Sheepish Believer …

            Lord, I feel sheepish all the time,

            but I’m still not sure if you’re my shepherd, cos

            I still want.

           

           And I'm not sure I want to lie down in green pastures - 

           there could be snakes!

           And what if I slip on wet rocks beside the still waters?

           Cos I know still waters run deep

           and I'm not a very good swimmer.

See what I mean? Cameron's poems are totally relatable, entirely relevant and truly remarkable. 

I recommend you try Love is the New Black for yourself. It also would make a fabulous Christmas present!

 Andrea writes contemporary romance. Her first book A Simple Mistake was a finalist in the CALEB Awards 2012. Her second novel Too Pretty was released in 2014 by Rhiza Press. 

Andrea would love to hear from you via her Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/author.andreagrigg

  

Book Review - Inadvertent Things

Any new Andrew Lansdown book of poems is always cause for a celebration. It’s a big claim, but in my opinion there is no poet in Australia who handles imagery as deftly. As an example:
'Black caterpillar –
a fur stole around the neck
of a daisy bud.'
I loved this image. Equally I loved the various images in 'Heron Meditations.' We have a grey heron comes sometimes into our yard and I could see it clearly through these images of 'a Buddhist nun,' and later 'a heron warrior monk.' Andrew Lansdown writes a lot about birds, so as well as several poems about herons, you will find kingfishers, wrens, swallows, and zebra finches just to name a few. 'Azure' about a fairy wren and the Madonna is a small jewel. I also loved 'Waterlily Haiku,' and 'Sacred Kingfisher.' 'Blossom' with its comparisons of the wattle and impressionists 'dotting technique' is another small gem as is 'Buds.' I appreciated the humour in 'Jonquils and Daffodils' as well as 'Pygmy Bat' and several other poems and I liked the,
'Liquidambar –
Educating evergreens
About autumn.'
Lansdown also perfectly captures small family moments in poems such as 'Touch,' 'Ferocious Animals' and 'A Good Death.' 'Australian Summer' conveys a very accurately observed picture of the land. There is poignancy that brought tears to my eyes in 'Meditations on Pain,' and 'Ambitions,' but 'After Pain\ also conveys a sense of hope.
Trying to pick a favourite Andrew Lansdown poem is like trying to pick your favourite child – not possible. However a few others I loved were: 'For Grace,' 'Wren Haiku,' 'Time Out', 'Inadvertent Things 1', 'Incoming Heron' and 'Black Bamboo'. But I am sure next time I pick up this book, which will be often, I will find other favourites. There is just something about Andrew Lansdown’s poetry that always speaks to my heart. These poems in traditional Japanese forms are a joy to read and to savour. Loved the cover of this book too.

Over time Dale has written fiction, poetry, children’s fiction, bible studies and Sunday school lessons. More information about Dale can be found at www.daleharcombe.com or on her Write and Read with Dale blog http://www.livejournal.com/users/orangedale/