Reviews......
REFLECTIONS OF A MISSISSIPPI MAGNOLIA LIFE IN POEMS
Reflections of a Mississippi Magnolia
review by Shellie Rushing Tomlinson
Patricia Neely-Dorsey's artful phrasing and easy rhythms share her view of the Southern world I know and love. She draws pictures of landscapes and people as familiar to me as my nearest kin and my own back yard. I see my husband in "Southern Man", my upbringing in "My Rules" and my childhood in "Shelling Peas". Pick up a copy and treat yourself to a sweet Southern breeze
Reflections of a Mississippi Magnolia
review by-Dew on the Kudzu
Patricia has a goal. She wants to bring the beauty of the South, and Mississippi especially, to as many people as possible to dispel the negative connotations that tend to be associated with the area. She chooses to do so through poems.
Her poems are like a gentle breeze in the late afternoon as you sit on the porch, eating pie and drinking tea. They're very familiar and warm and comforting. Her poems are plainspoken and refreshing.
For myself, a Southerner, all of her words strike memories in my heart and make me smile. For non-Southerners, it's a very clear picture of how we think and live.
Give this book a read and smile a little wider.
05August
Submitted by Christi
SOUTHERN LIFE
If you want a glimpse of Southern life,
Come close and walk with me
I’ll tell you all the simple things
That you are sure to see
You’ll see mockingbirds and bumblebees
Magnolia blossoms and dogwood trees
Caterpillars on the step
Wooden porches cleanly swept
Watermelons on the vine
Strong majestic Georgia pines
Rocking chairs and front yard swings
Junebugs flying on a string;
Turnip greens and hot cornbread,
Coleslaw and barbecue;
Fried okra, fried corn, fried green tomatoes
Fried pies and pickles, too.
There’s ice cold tea that’s syrupy sweet,
And cool,green grass beneath your feet;
Catfish nipping in the lake,
And fresh young boys on the make.
You’ll see all these things
And much, much more,
In a way of life that I adore.
Copyright 2008 Patricia Neely-Dorsey
This is just one of the many great poems by Patricial Neely-Dorsy in her beautiful book Reflections of a Mississippi Magnolia – A Life in Poems. On her website, Patricia explains:
My book Reflections of a Mississippi Magnolia is a true celebration of the south and things southern. Using childhood memories, personal thoughts and dreams, I attempt to give a positive glimpse into the southern way of life. There are so many negative connotations associated with Mississippi and the south in general. I want to show a flip side of the coin.There is much to love about this much maligned and misunderstood part of our country. I would really love for you to get to KNOW Mississippi (and the south) in a different light and I want to introduce you. I invite you to Meet Mississippi Through Poetry, Prose and the written word.
I was planning on reading her book over the weekend last week. Instead, I started looking through it on Friday night and the next thing I knew, I had read the entire book of poems! There are many things that I could relate to in her book of poems. And, many I could not, like the poems about hogs on the farm (I was raised in the city), but, I have heard similar stories from friends who were raised on farms. Her poem Right to Vote is moving and beautiful. Through all of her poems, you get to know Patricia, and by the end, you feel like you have a new friend.
In honor of Patricia’s beautiful book, today’s tablescape is called Moonlight and Magnolias.
First thing I had to do was go visit my neighbors, Mike and Sandy to see if I could cut some leaves and blooms from their magnolia tree. They very graciously agreed.
Next thing I needed was moonlight. Oh, it just happens to be a full moon tonight. If only the clouds will stay away!
Magnolia leaves under clear plates with gold edging.
Magnolia leaves under clear plates with gold edging.
A magnolia leaf is tucked in the gold napkin rings.
Here is a closer look at those leathery magnolia leaves under glass.
As usual, my birds got in on the picture.
We got the gold stemmed crystal in New Orleans on our honeymoon.
I think the magnolia in the crystal bowl in the center is stunning.
This one that is not quite open is laying along side.
While I was taking the pics, this dove came and visited.
As the sun went down, the candles were lit.
A romantic, sultry, Southern summer evening.
The sun is sinking over the horizon.
The candles flicker gently.
Today’s Lagniappe: Magnolia Milk Pun
And, we wait for the moon to rise.
http://www.facebook.com/l/;asouthernlife.co
Review of: Reflections of a Mississippi Magnolia, A Life In Poems
Publisher: Grant House Publisher
By Author: Patricia Neely-Dorsey
Reflections of a Mississippi Magnolia, A Life In Poems is well written, nicely constructed and a very entertaining collection of poetry. There is also much to learn about the author Patricia Neely-Dorsey’s history, childhood, friendships, southern culture and her beloved Mississippi . It is refreshing to read in prose form about someone who has opinions, about her roots and is proud of their personal heritage. There were many poems I enjoyed but my two favorite are “Soul Food Restaurant”, because the food sounded so good and “Yardsaling” because I really relate to this one. I will be looking forward to more books from author Patricia Neely-Dorsey. This is a 5*****event!
Reviewer: Julia Johnson
From: Belton , Missouri
Author of: Jewels Treasured By Her Family & Three Roses for Pearl
Reflections of a Mississippi Magnolia
In my mind, there will always be an image, fixed as the feeling next to my heart when my lover holds me in his arms: a house, sat so far back from the road you almost don’t see it, the journey to it one of pleasure, adventure, risk.
You had to get permission to go down to the road it was so far, but I always remember walking back, and coming up on the house from the side. No one seemed to use the front door, lessen they didn’t know where they was or who they were comin to visit.
I am talking, of course, about my grandparents’ home in Texas, a house that probably doesn’t exist any longer, but whose sanctuary made me a country girl through and through from the time I was nine years old. I am a country girl still, resident of the Great Northeast, walking barefoot in winter apartments because my beloved needs the heat up in December. He is from Wayne, Pennsylvania, with a love for the country as deep as my own.
I have yet to mention Mississippi, you say, and am I going to go on and on about magnolia trees like every Southerner seems to? What could possibly be positive about Mississippi, a place Oprah and Maya have made sure we understand remains the bowls of all that the deprived experience here in the sinfully rich US of A?
I, an Angeleno, born and raised in South Central L.A., crow loudly and proudly about Patricia Neeley-Dorsey’s Reflections of a Mississippi Magnolia because she does something I have rarely seen a Black Southern woman do in the North: defend her homeland, proudly, with a gloved fist in your face. Her poems rhyme, often ruthlessly, sometimes with the meter a bit shy in its regularity, but the gloved fist is on every page of her love of all that makes up a Southern palate:
(from “Right to Vote”)
They’ve told me of how hard it was,
For them to get to vote;
They’d go down to the courthouse door,
And there would be a note:
“Out to Lunch” or “No One’s In,”
“Come Back Another Day,”
In all kinds of ways you wouldn’t believe,
They were turned away.
The rhyme scheme is regular, religious, faithful in its simple abab, but the gloved fist lets you know this is a Southern girl who knows her history and the cost of all her parents survived. Ms. Neely-Dorsey’s poetry has that wonderful Southern politeness that allows you to read of all that is glorious, fun, humble and treasured about the South, and you almost don’t realize she is daring you to differ from this rendition by one of its devoted denizens—unless you too were raised by Southerners and know that the formality and grace also hide a stiletto. There is a fierceness in any true Southerners’ love of their home, and even if they spend their lives escaping it, a little bit of that determination to defend its honor, its graces never quite goes away.
Mrs. Neely-Dorsey’s depiction of Southern life is accurate without flaw:
For breakfast: Country Ham and Eggs,
With Biscuits and Cheese Grits,
For Lunch: Neckbones, Catfish,
Smothered Chicken,
Pork chops and Pigs feet.
Everything looks so delicious,
And these are just the meats.
The vegetables you might enjoy,
Include greens, squash, and black-eyed peas;
….
Whatever it is that you decide,
It’s sure to hit the spot,
It’ll come delivered to your booth,
Fresh and piping hot.
Be prepared to sit a spell,
‘Cause you won’t want to move;
For you will have dined most sumptuously,
As your clean plate will prove.
What this reviewer loves most about Mrs. Neely-Dorsey’s poems of airy lightness and deep Southern aroma is the depth she manages to sew into lines that might be glossed over as simple homespun homages to those she grew up with and around:
He taught us lessons every day
You couldn’t find in any book.
He had a coup full of chickens,
And sometimes, we’d gather the eggs;
Quite often, one of those chickens
Would wind up on our plates,
As tasty fried chicken legs.
On Sundays he would take us all to church,
And there, he’d like to sing;
I even joined in with the family’s group,
On Easter program in the spring.
He also thought himself a cook,
Fried okra was his specialty;
Coming out of the grease all peppered and hot,
It was the best, if you’d ever ask me.
His wife and he were quite a pair,
And before they went to bed;
We’d sit and watch as she lovingly
Scratched the dandruff from his head.
The gloved fist can wear a smile as it reminds us that even the quintessential Southern gentleman, and Black Southern men taught all men how to be gentlemen, is nothing without his companion, his life partner, who gentles, humanizes, and strengthens him. The poems “Mr. Agnew” and “The Agnews” make clear that Mrs. Neely-Dorsey grew up in a world of two-parent families and communities in which there may have been struggle and racism and injustice, but there was also abundance and respect and love thick like Malaga syrup. The rounds she makes with her father, one of the first Black doctors, clarify with a deft precision the love and respect she is taught for all elements of her community, the well-to-do and those not quite as fortunate:
We traveled way deep in the country,
And there were always such sites to see;
Believe you me, I noticed them all,
Down to the last bumblebee.
I’d always meet really kind people,
As I stayed close by my daddy’s side;
He’d always give my introduction,
As he stood there beaming with pride.
Many of the people had no indoor plumbing,
And most of them were all very poor;
So my daddy would let patients pay him,
With whatever it was they’d procure.
Sometimes, he took brown eggs or slab bacon,
Fresh vegetables, hams and the like;
….
My eyes would grow wide with excitement,
As I saw all the animals and stock;
We’d see so much beautiful scenery,
As we’d drive to our next door to knock.
Mrs. Neely-Dorsey’s unexpected quiet turns of phrase (that gloved fist again) also save her poems from the realms of ordinary, regular rhyme. The literary sensibility delights in the surprise of “our next door to knock” and the humor and shock of the reference to Mrs. Agnew scratching her husband’s dandruff will raise many an African American eyebrow as we laugh and say, “no she didn’t tell THAT!”
If you are expecting a long, quiet, undisturbing slow Southern stroll, don’t pick up Mrs. Neely-Dorsey’s Reflections of a Mississippi Magnolia. Her tender, deft and adept portrayals of Southern realities are damning of Northern, urban, “Yankee” sensibilities. Their accuracy, however, is a true gift to those of us who love the South, whether born there or rescued there (as I was), for her poems will explain to anyone unfamiliar with Southern graces, Southern life, Southern honor why a Georgia peach is the sweetest, why baked macaroni and cheese is a fine art, and why a true Black Southern belle is the kind of woman who will make any man worth his salt sweat and not be able to explain the ferocity or heat of the water drenching yet soothing his overheated soul.
Niama Leslie Williams, Ph.D.
Norristown, PA
s
April 25, 2009
Patricia Neely Dorsey author of Reflections Of a Mississippi Magnolia - A Life in Poems
My wonderful husband guest posts today a review of a new book of poetry.-Elizabeth Grant
Patricia Neely Dorsey’s Reflections of a Mississippi Magnolia-A Life in Poems is “a true celebration of the south and things southern.” The author states , “There are so many negative connotations associated with Mississippi and the south in general. In my book, using childhood memories, personal thoughts and dreams, I attempt to give a positive glimpse into the southern way of life. In my book I try to show that there is much is more to Mississippi and the south than all of the negatives usually portrayed .I invite readers to Meet Mississippi (and the south) Through Poetry, Prose and The Written Word.”
It may sound odd that, as a student of literature and a writer, I have no idea what I really want from a poem. I know what I like and I know what I don’t like. I know why I like what I do and why I don’t like what I don’t. Sometimes, though, everything that would normally work toward making me like a poem just gets broken down. Perhaps it is an intriguing subject that gets overshadowed and lost in a forest of predictable meter and rhyme. Perhaps it is an interesting meter devoted to a subject that doesn’t quite measure up. Having said all of this, I can now say that I have a very mixed opinion of Patricia Neely-Dorsey’s Reflections of a Mississippi Magnolia.
I do not believe that there is a poem in this collection that Mrs. Neely-Dorsey did not honestly feel, that does not spring from who she is as an individual who wants to share her own understanding of life with the world at large. However, very many of the poems that book-end this collection fall into the category of “poems whose subjects are not well-met by their structure.” Mrs. Neely-Dorsey has an affinity for her Southern life – an affinity with which I can sympathize – that is clearly expressed, sentimental as it may be. But sentimentality can go two different ways: sappy romanticism and cut-me-to-the-quick art-that-can-be-nothing-less. Sadly, this volume is opened and closed by pieces that fall into the “sappy” category. The meter, matched with the subject matter, in a strange sort of way, reminds me very much of Phyllis Wheatley. This can be taken in many different ways, so let me declare my stance on Wheatley: I believe that she was a brilliant poet who severely limited herself by her use of meter and rhyme.
If one is seeking to buy a volume of “Southern Literature” for someone who takes a simple joy in their Southern Life, this would be a perfect piece of literature. But one who is seeking to gift a poet, or one cultured in literature and its affects, needs to have the following as a disclaimer: one must seek one’s treasure. What I mean is that the incessant iambic feet and ABCB… rhyme scheme get a bit… well…monotonous, amateur, and boring. Someone seeking poetry for the sake of experiencing art, were they impatient in their endeavors, would most likely put the book down after a few poems. The problem is that this is a very sad truth. If the book were filled with this type of poem, setting it down so soon would be no great loss, but it isn’t. There are several real gems buried here, some poems that honestly made me stop reading for a second to say “wow” and then hope to find another so beautiful for its mere simplicity.
This is the spark of this collection: its simple moments. What Mrs. Neely-Dorsey is trying to capture here in so many of her poems is the simple beauty of Southern life. When she gives up on trying to portray that through the frills of what a naïve reader would consider the necessities of poetry and just writes, she honestly captures something: form matches content and the beauty that art can manifest shines through. I would like to close with two short poems that I think really express my point, where attempts at meter and rhyme are dropped and the only thing that holds the poem together as a poem are its words and the idea they are attempting to communicate, to capture.
Avid Reader
I want to be
Your favorite book,
That you read
Over and over again,
From cover to cover,
And get lost in the story.
Not a fairy tale.
Not a mystery.
No cliff hangers.
Just
A Plain
Old Fashioned
Love Story
Partyline
Do you remember
Picking up the phone…
“Excuse me”
“Could I make a call, please?”
“It’s an emergency.”
“Five minutes?”
“O.K.”
“Thank You.” Click.
Or listening in on some juicy gossip,
Or some steamy love talk late at night,
Easing up the receiver …Slowly…Carefully…
(muffled giggles)
“Shhhhh”
“Be quiet, they’ll hear us.”
“Hey you kids, quit playing on the phone!”
“Uhhh..ohhhh, we’re caught.” Click.
Partyline.
Searching for some good ole soul-stirring Southern poetry? Then check out Reflections of a Mississippi Magnolia: A Life in Poems by Patricia Neely-Dorsey
Patricia Neely Dorsey's “Reflections of a Mississippi Magnolia-A Life in Poems” is a true celebration of the south and things southern. In her book, using childhood memories, personal thoughts and dreams, she gives a positive glimpse into the southern way of life. You can purchase her book at http://www.amazon.com/ or http://www.reeds.ms/books.asp.
