Patricia Neely-Dorsey's
Reflections of a Mississippi Magnolia
"A CELEBRATION OF THE SOUTH AND THINGS SOUTHERN"
Sablelit Reviews/AMAZON REVIEWS
Sable Lit Reviews
November 3, 2008
As soon as you begin reading Patricia Neely-Dorsey’s book of poetry dedicated to her life in Mississippi, you immediately know you can’t do her lyrical rhymes the injustice of reading them silently.
Her words are meant to be read aloud, each syllable savored as they roll along your tongue. If you are not southern you will long to be in short order as you read about the Southern men, the fine Southern ladies, the Southern foods, the Southern skies and the Mississippi heat on your back. You can almost feel it as you drink in every verse.
Thank you Lord for I am only two generation removed from this Southern charm of which Neely-Dorsey speaks. My grandparents hail from the Georgia Peach. While it’s not the fragrant land of the Mississippi Magnolia, I still recall some of the memories Neely-Dorsey offers her readers as a treat.
Patricia Neely-Dorsey’s poetry reminds me of a chap book I stumbled upon in a public reading room. It was not a bestseller and its cover wasn’t glossy, as a matter of fact the clerk said I could have it. I was nine and I read that poetry book from cover to cover. I laughed and I cried. I cherished that book for years. Now that book has a companion in Patricia Neely-Dorsey’s Reflections of a Mississippi Magnolia: A Life in Poems. A volume, I’m glad she shares with us. The volume of audible candy earns 5/5 Sable Seals of approval.
Laura Major- Sablelit Reviews-Glendale,AZ
See feature presentation of Reflections with poems and commenatary on Sablelit site
www.sablelitreviews.com/tag/a-life-of-poems/
Going down South, 
Reflections of a Mississippi Magnolia
by Patricia Neely-Dorsey
Reviewed by Marsha Coles
Poetic Monthly Magazine
Reflections of a Mississippi Magnolia by Patricia Neely-Dorsey is a 90 page book of poetry published by Grant House Publishers, LLC.
From the very first poem "Southern Life" Ms. Dorsey transfers the reader to an avidly descriptive barbecue with nature's goodness all around. She invites the reader to enjoy southern hospitalities and delicacies making the reader feel as though they are there walking amongst the Magnolias.
Each poem in Reflections of a Mississippi Magnolia shows the reader the love for the simple southern life, family, and faith that the authors holds dear.
I suggest this book for a nice leisurely day sitting on the front porch swing. It was an excellent book of poetry and I hope Ms. Dorsey continues to write and perhaps have another book of poetry available someday for her followers.
Reviewed by Marsha Coles
author of Texas Justice
Poetic Monthly Magazine
Grits in Grace(land) , | By | OOSA Online Book Club "O.O.S.A. Gets It Read!" (World Wide Web, USA) - See all my reviews |
Poetry about southern life, although the focus is Mississippi, it could well be any southern state.
It is a refreshing and unique perspective that rings true to my experiences of North Carolina, Virginia, Georgia, and Arkansas.
Patricia Neeley-Dorsey covers a wide range of topics from cooking, childhood, men, the environment, friends, habits and places common to the south. I enjoyed reading it because each poem was like a cool drink of water on a hot summer day, simply refreshing.
I would rate it a 5 for clarity, brevity, and comprehensive coverage as it was substantial enough to give someone who has never been south an idea of what to expect and how to adjust. Very light-hearted and easy reading, I found Neely Dorsey subtle and yet exciting.
Of course, it did help that she is one of my sorority sisters!
Reviewed by: Gail
An Education of the South,
Ms. Dorsey has taken her knowledge of the South and put in a book of poety which sings. She shows exactly what it is like to live in the south, know true southern gentlemen and the flow that goes with the southern culture. She shows the reader the roots which run deep and strong in the lives and loves of a true southern. As as southern author and a true southern child I could relate to all of the poems which she has penned. From Grits, to family Ms. Dorsey has nailed it. She reminds us of a quieter and slower time. This book is indeed an excellent read for those who are southern by birth, southern by design or want to be. She tells it just like it is. I give the book five stars Yvonne Mason, Author
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Review: Reflections of a Mississippi Magnolia- A Life in Poems by Patricia Neely-Dorsey,
Reading this wonderful collection of poems brought back Fave Poem #1
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Pleasantly Surprised, | By | Takiela "Dream BIG -Takiela." (Midwest, USA) - See all my reviews |
I must admit that I don't usually write reviews for self published books, however, I received numerous emails urging me to simple give author Patricia Neely-Dorsey a chance, and ladies and gentlemen I've never regretted it.
Patricia has taken the some what "negative" stigma behind the south flipped it, drizzled it with some poetry, and blended it Dorsey style thus creating her own unique flava.
The poems in her books compel feelings of joy, sorrow, laughter, times of the past, some poems easy on the palate of the mind, and on the contrary there are some thought provoking poems as well. Patricia is a well rounded southern bell who has a bright future ahead of her. To learn more about her visit http://www.patricianeelydorsey.webs.com/.
Take a trip to Mississippi,
Whether I was in town or out in the country, Mississippi was always the backdrop for family reunions and fun, stories from Grandaddy and if it was a good day, a ride on the horse or in the back of Grandaddy's pickup truck. Many of us have fond memories of Southern landscapes or sipping sweet tea on the porch and waving at folks as they passed by. Since my grandparents are no longer with us, we haven't been making those frequent trips to Mississippi and it gets harder to refresh the memories or adequately pass along those great stories to my kids that fascinated me and my cousins growing up. Reflections of a Mississippi Magnolia: A Life in Poems is a collection of poems by Patricia Neely-Dorsey. These poems bring back the tastes and smells and the calming influences of Southern life. The expressions and phrases quickly transported me back to pre-pubescent conversations with aunts and uncles and flashed in my mind pictures of dusty roads and magnolia trees. Thanks Patricia for taking me back to country living and giving me a glimpse of our sweet Mississippi. I really could throw down on some fried okra and pickle slices right now |
Great Book!,
This is a book that I will treasure owning. I live in the South and I found many personal connections in her poems. All throughout the book, I found myself thinking, "I know someone just like that," or "Yep, that's how it is in my town." It is an easy and fun read! I think this book would be a great gift for a hostess gift, newlyweds, your relatives, or even someone in the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority as the author is and has a couple poems refering to it. It would especially be fantastic if the person is from or has roots in Mississippi. I loved the book and I can't wait for what she writes next!
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Magnificient Magnolia Poetry, | By | Joey D. Pinkney "JoeyPinkney.com" (Garner, NC) - |
With Reflections of a Mississippi Magnolia, Patricia Neely-Dorsey gives the world a book that is part biography, part rhymes, part imagination but all Mississippi! In a time where most people shun being called "country", Patricia Neely-Dorsey's Reflection of a Mississippi Magnolia embraces all that is Mississippi country living. Before you can even open this collection of poetry, you are greeted with the beauty of a magnolia, Mississippi's state flower.
I spent many summers in the small town of Winona, MS, where my dad still lives. I can say with confidence that Neely-Dorsey is an artist of words. Her images are painted vividly across the canvas of your mind as you thumb through her musings. Her words and rhyme patterns are simple, yet the complex imagery the words evoke will whisk yo down memory lane. I remember the "muscadines ripen[ing] on winding vines" (from "A Country View") and using Vick's Vapor Rub on everything "from arthritis to [a] bee sting" and "on chest or back" (from "Country Cure (All)").
Neely-Dorsey's poems vividly and collectively paint a picture of a life that is simple yet provides rich experiences. From the authentic Southern menu found in "Soul Food Restaurant" to the culture depicted in "Yardsaling", this collection of poetry gives more than a glimpse into lives of the good people of Mississippi. From the "Southern Man" poem where the main character fixes the back fence to the truth found in "If Mississippi's In You", Reflections of a Mississippi Magnolia shows a genuine pride in Southern culture.
Reviewed by Joey Pinkney Dot Com
Book Reviewer
Steeped In Mint Julep Tea and Home-Made Molasses, | By | Melanie Calvert - Benton "ladyfox250" (Pearl, Ms) - See all my reviews |
"Patrica Neely-Dorsey really hits home with her wonderfully written book of poetry
about Southern Living and culture in our beautiful Magnolia State of Mississippi.
Steeped in Mint Julep Tea and smothered with home-made cane molasses and butter,
Dorsey's poems give you the comfort of a long ago childhood where many of us lived
on a farm, attended a country church as well as leaving home for other
destinations. A must read for anyone who loves poetry and looking to rekindle their
Southern Roots."
A Refreshing Look at Mississippi,
The beauty of her poems emanates from the simplicity of her imagery, which can be seen even in the first poem of the collection, "Southern Life," where she describes the beauty of a Southern setting through the use of images like "Wooden porches cleanly swept" and "tea that's syrupy sweet." While her general ode to Mississippi is tender and nostalgic, Mrs. Dorsey's personal poems are my favorites of the collection. Her candid explorations of her love for her husband and son, her respect for those who helped to rear her, and her own self-examination add enormously to an already quite suitable poetic collection. My absolute favorite poem in the collection, incidentally, is also among the shortest in the collection. It is called "Turning 40" and goes as follows: When I turned 40, I felt so brand new; I bought a bikini, And got a tattoo; For some unknown reason, I felt more alive; I can't imagine what'll happen, When I turn 45. Mrs. Dorsey's passion for life, love, and the South come shining through in this collection, reminding those of us who do have the aforementioned love/hate relationship with Mississippi why it is that we continue to come home over and over again and love the fabric of our home, in spite of some of its shadows.
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Down Home Southern Poetry At It's Best,
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?) Reflections Of A Mississippi Magnolia - A Life In Poems is written by a true Southerner, Patricia Neely-Dorsey. She writes passionately about growing up in the South, her love for her home state of Mississippi and her life after 40. Her poetry is sincere, real, and warm. They just feel good to read and sure makes this reader feel mighty proud to be a Southerner. Of course, you do not have to be from the South to appreciate Patricia's poetry. Her flowing words are a joy for everyone to read. Patricia Neely-Dorsey writes in the preface of her book that she always hesitates to call herself a poet. She says "I feel more like a vessel or a conduit through which the poems flow. I never intentionally sat down to write any of them. They all came to me, fully complete and neatly packaged, title and all" |
Push Nevahda Review: Mississippi Magnolia, | By | Push Nevahda Review (CA) - See all my reviews |
Flight 664 had me agitated and bothered since the moment I'd arrived at the Phoenix/Mesa Gateway airport to board the dubious flight headed East to Grand Rapids, Michigan. Hungry and worried over the possibility that risky weather might reroute my flight to Texas or maybe even back to dusky Mesa, I grabbed a burrito, a cold sprite, and took a seat next to an older gentleman who rambled on endlessly about growing up in Tunica, Mississippi during the 40s and 50s. I spoke of my ambivalence with Detroit, but that, no matter what, I loved Detroit and it will always be home. "As a matter of fact," I said to the elderly gentleman, "I'm headed that way now. Well, I'm gonna land in Grand Rapids, then drive on to Detroit from there."After more talk on Mississippi and Detroit, the silver-haired fellow left and I pondered on the wonderful stories he'd shared, when all of a sudden it hit me! I had a review copy of Patricia Neely-Dorsey's new book of poetry, Reflections of a Mississippi Magnolia: A Life in Poems, tucked in the side of my briefcase.
I cautiously glanced out the plane window to see what was down there. Everything was small and getting smaller. We'd been in the air for about 40 minutes. The pilot told us that there was indeed a chance that we would have to return to Phoenix/Mesa Gateway airport if instructed to do so should the weather not clear by the time we reached Las Vegas. I told the preacher seated behind me to pray that we make it: "I gotta be in Detroit tomorrow morning for a book signing," I said while placing my corduroy blazer over the back seat. "I'm praying, brother," the preacher smilingly reassured. I reached above the preacher's head into the overhead storage and rambled through my briefcase looking for Dorsey's book to see if I'd want to continue reading it. I'd began the book just before I boarded but, by now (approximately 16 pages into the book), Dorsey's poetry had did little to whet my appetite, and I longed for the moment when something explosive would strike my fancy, as well as take my mind off the fact that I was flying 33,000 miles in the air with no parachute strapped to my back...and a winter advisory warning - with minimum visibility - laying in wait as the plane floated on towards the grave abyss of blizzardly danger at a snowy Grand Rapids airport.
I continued thumbing through Dorsey's book while feeling somewhat
ambivalent about what I'd read up to that point. By the middle of the book, it becomes clear that Dorsey's nostalgic poetry reflects upon (and promotes) the goodness of Southern life and culture - even to the point of repetition and redundancy. For example, Sounds of Summer and Summer Night (Southern Style) really ought to have been one poem. Even Mississippi Morning is redundant and only revisits what has already been told. Interestingly, a few of Dorsey's poems speak to some historical matters. One Room School and Right to Vote is quite impressive.
According to my marginalia, The Rules is good, but Country Breakfast seems like a repeat of a poem with a different name. Yardsaling is good; Soul Food Restaurant is interesting; A Country View is interesting; and my notes on page 19 questioned: "Didn't she do this already on page 12?" Hog Killing Time and Slopping Hogs is essentially the same thing.
At times, Dorsey's reminiscent book reminded me of Zora Neale Hurston, and Paul Dunbar, seeming like odes or lyric poems on the beauty of Mississippi life, even. Sometimes the language is good, melodic, rhythmic, lyrical, and then it takes a turn for the worse. (Then there are moments when one wonders if we are reading Harriet Beecher Stowe.)
I tried hard to focus on completing Dorsey's book, but the weather took a turn for the worst and so I closed the book and stared out the window. There was nothing to see but wind and snow. There was no skyline, lights, or any sign of the runway. I was scared. I reopened Dorsey's book to take my mind off the fact that this could very well be the last book I read. The chapter titled Family History is quite good, but not good enough to save the book. Country Doctor certainly plays on my own personal interest in history, yet, The Agnews seemed unfinished and unpolished.
We began our descent into Grand Rapids airport and everyone on the plane looked worried and scared. Looking outside the window was like looking into a violent whirl of a blizzard storm. I thought if I'd ever see my friends and family again. Then I returned to Dorsey's book to read the last of the poems, Mississippi Magnolia. The plane's wheels screeched the runway, the passengers clapped, and I read Dorsey's last poem - the poem that saved the book:
Home is where the heart is,
That's what they always say;
Well, my heart is Mississippi's,
In the most profoundest way;
It's who I am,
It's what I like
It's everything to me;
A Mississippi Magnolia girl
Is all I'll ever be.
| Southern Style Memoir Poetry, A Life in Poems, by Patricia Neely-Dorsey Grant House Publishers, (2007) ISBN: 978-0-9796294-2-6 Softback: $15.00, 89 pages Poetry is subjective in that it is transpired from the mind of a person whose life experiences, events, feelings about their observations and interactions, location, and period in humankind, causes the words to evolve almost into its own persona. The poetry, in other words, is a reflection of the Poet, as the Poet travels through their life and times to which the words and poetry are significant. Patricia Neely-Dorsey is definitely a Southern Poet in that she speaks of an identity in her book of poems called Reflections of a Mississippi Magnolia that can be acutely understood best, by a Southerner. Thus, we can say that the identity or persona created in this book of poems is parochial in some sense, yet it is universal in another sense. When one thinks of a parochial meaning, or person, we might think of such as insular, unsophisticated. The Poet here speaks of Mississippi distinctly, and the people in her particular life, the neighborhood, the conventions, and culture of her surroundings, as in "Making Cracklings": First you have to kill a hog Then, carefully take off the skin; Cut it up in little squares, And then the fun begins. Take a big, black, iron pot, Then, put in some lard' As you'll see, it's quite simple, Nothing very hard... In this way, Neely-Dorsy creates a sense of a limited consciousness; a narrow-minded, child-like perspective, and even as "the child" grows up, there is this child-like sense of observation in that southern mentality. "Little Miss Perfect" exemplifies this observation: I knew a little girl when I was young, Who wore two pigtails across her head; I thought she was the cutest thing, And this, I often said, Over the years, I watched her, She was always quiet, likeable and smart; To me, she seemed so perfect, And had life down to an art.... In "Southern Night (Southern Style)" Neely-Dorsy exacts the emotions one would experience while sitting on a porch, staring out into the warm Southern sky: Moths flicker `round the front porch light Fireflies are taking flight The sun has disappeared from sight And all around the sounds of night. Everything is warm and still A sense of calm that one can feel The moon shines bright over yonder hill Can all this loveliness be real? So on the one hand, this parochial sense is implicated by the language, "yonder hill" and from her experience in a Mississippi Southern moment. On the other hand, however, these emotions can be felt supposing, on the Afghanistan border by some soldier sitting guard, looking out into the blazing heat of night. Neely-Dorsey then, while speaking of her own hometown, and her own particular love of the Southern Mississippi locale, and lifestyle, touches upon those universal sensations that anyone can claim. Further, it can be read to meet so many levels of emotions, and even ages of people, that such a "local" feel can touch someone even on the other side of the world; everyone has after all, their sense of place, their landscape in mind; their quiet inner observer of life, love, joy and sorrow. Mississippi Magnolia Home is where the heart is, That's what they always say; Well, my heart is Mississippi's, In the most profoundest way; It's who I am, It's what I like, It's everything to me; A Mississippi magnolia girl Is all I'll ever be. Patricia Neely-Dorsey is a Poet of that fair Southern spirit, but she is also leagues with poets like Robert Frost, or Elizabeth Bishop, who wrote in that seemingly simple read, yet addressed universally and infinitely one's soul. A book of poetry that one can contemplate upon, consider in every aspect of a life in any city, country of world. Reviewed by Lydia Nolan Creator of International Books Cafe [...] |
Brings back memories!,
Reflections of a Mississippi Magnolia - Review by Martha A. Cheves, Author of Stir, Laugh, Repeat I don't think I've ever picked up a book that brings back as many memories as Reflections of a Mississippi Magnolia. And the memories were all good memories. It made me remember growing up in the south and participating in the activities the poems represent. From the "Partyline" which talks about growing up with a telephone number shared by others, to the "Baptismal Sunday" which took place in a pond instead of a baptismal pool, and on to the "Making Cracklins" which I can still see my grandmother doing. I have many favorites in this little book of memories but two that touched me the most were "Shelling Peas" and "Slopping Hogs." These two poems really took me back to my childhood while growing up in the south. So, if you are a Southerner and would like to awaken some memories of when life was more laid back, this book is a must read. If you're not from the south, reading Reflections of a Mississippi Magnolia will let you see what you missed. For me, this is a book I'll cherish forever. |
