3 out of 4 stars
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Fantasy or Reality by Ruth Andrew Garnes is a life's work of poetry compiled in a chronological anthology that must have dated back to the author's child-scrawled poems. I enjoyed reading this very much. As always, it is a bit difficult to review poetry collections, but as a lover and student of prose myself, I seek out such challenges!
Garnes is a native of Belize, a country I once visited many years ago and fell madly in love with. This was one of the reasons I chose this book as my first review upon returning from my hiatus. She covers in her poems a variety of topics, keeping the reader from blinking sleepily and losing interest as some may do when reading long collections of poetry. Garnes writes about her parents, her childhood, her goals as a poet, becoming a mother, falling in love, being cheated on, racism, husbands, and wives. I did not have to try hard to relate to her and resonate with her writing, it came naturally.
Her writing was well edited for the most part. There were a few spelling errors, but nothing that drastically disrupted the flow of the poems. Many of them rhymed, not in a cheesy way, but in a pleasant and whimsical rhythm. I especially cracked a smile when reading the poem called 'Appreciated Woman' which, while I am not sure if this was intentional, she talks about the woman she has gone on to marry and call her wife, and how she has been positively changed by this. As I am a bisexual woman married to a beautiful lady, myself, I really appreciated this and it made me relate more to the author, whether that was intentional or not. 'You are Special to Me' is another poem where she dedicates her love to that woman and muses on how lucky she has been to have won the affections of her partner. These poems were probably my favorite part of the whole anthology.
She also tackles such upsetting topics such as adultery committed by a partner. I too, have been cheated on, so I was cheering her on as she seethed and hissed like a viper in her poem 'A Woman Scorned'. In 'Just for Being Brown' she speaks on the subject of being mistrusted and mistreated for the color of her skin. Again, I can relate! I am Muscogee Creek Native American and all through my childhood was mocked and discriminated against because I was darker and 'redder' than my white classmates. The author and I really did end up having more in common than I predicted when I began reading. It was indeed a very nice surprise and enhanced my experience as a reader further.
All this being said, I give this lovely collection of poetry a 3 out of 4. While I could find no fault in her subject matter or the flow of her prose, the few instances of spelling error and word confusion did very minutely affect the overall experience (again, not by much), though this is something easily remedied by a good editor. Aside from that, I have nothing bad to say! All in all, this was a wonderful read! I would highly recommend it to anyone who appreciates having an open mind and a good story! Well done, Garnes! Please keep writing!
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Fantasy or Reality
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