Raven's Brew By Christina Davis www.ravens-brew.com www.fireflypublishingent.com
Reviewed By K.T.Mitchell
Poetic elitism
In 2006, The Poetry Foundation's President John Barr sparked a firestorm of controversy in his article,
American Poetry in the New Century, by asserting there is an "intellectual and spiritual stagnation in the art form," bred by "MFA programs" that teach poets "to think that writing poetry has something to do with credentials." Barr concludes the end result of this sort of poetry is " is a poetry that is neither robust, resonant, nor...entertaining," a poetry without an interested public audience.
In short, Barr outed "successful" modern poets for their worst sin, cultural elitism. Yet in his article Barr fails to recognize there is a growing, grassroots movement in poetry in which poets with real life experiences are making themselves known. More importantly, the general public audience that elitist poets so crave are recognizing these new "organic" poets.
Christina Davis first book Raven's Brew is one such example of organic poetry at its finest. This collection was born of a personal journey that leads to redemption, instead of indoctrinated erudition. the poems in this collection thump with a pressing urgent rhythm of an sorceresses' heart during her most intense evocations.
With her words, Davis takes the reader on a journey through physical and emotional abuse inflicted by others as well as the speaker's self abuse. Davis never presents herself as a proud martyr, as one would expect. Instead the words are magical cures that transform pain into learning experiences. Most telling about this collection is Davis' willingness to write poetry from the perspective of a woman who has endured sexual abuse, a topic most poets are loathe to address because of the magnitude of emotions that can be evoked in the reader. Davis deserves applause for tackling this issue without fear of repercussions to her "poetic career." It is in these pieces, that women who have endured this sort of horrific abuse can seek solace and know that there is a way to heal in spite of the feelings that might churn within them.
Davis, a high school dropout who candidly admits she seeks to improve her writing skills, intuitively has a feel for rendering delicate subjects within traditional forms and rhythms. As the momentum of the book grows, so does Davis' courage in experimenting with more complicated poetry styles. Davis deftly lets her skill shine through the villanelle form in
Luminesce:
Paralyzed in your stare
Deer caught by a headlight
Radiance in your glare
Luminosity is unfair
On this lonely road at midnight
Paralyzed in your stare
Caught in a cross hair
Prolong the agony of this plight
Radiance in your glare
Taken to your lair
Whispering hints of stage fright
Paralyzed in your stare
Fear that my heart you'll tear
Blazing Bird of night
Radiance in your glare
Tangled in a sticky snare
Hungry to feel your bite
Paralyzed in your stare
Radiance in your glare
Although Davis does reach the reader's heart with her sincerity of words and experimentation with form, at times her metaphors can be mixed, the images unclear. Yet as Davis continues to focus on improving her craft, it is almost certain these kinks will be worked out in subsequent books.
Imagery errors are usually considered egregious in the poetic world but Davis will be happily forgiven for these mistakes as the reader progresses through the collection. This critic can say without a doubt that Raven's Brew is an engrossing page turner, which is quiterare for any poetry book. None of the "spiritual stagnation" Barr lamented is present in this book because it was written from the heart, not within the walls of any literary program. Reading Raven's Brew will leave one with the hope that the poetic elite would leave off their navel gazing and reach out to home grown poets like Davis so that a true dialog about balancing the importance of life experience with knowledge of poetic forms can begin.
