Ordinary Light, by Cynthia Sharp, reviewed by Kamal Parmar
In the book Ordinary Light, poet Cynthia Sharp tackles a world crisis i.e., a global ecological collapse that is engulfing mankind. Her poems are like the healing touch of an angel soothing the mind and the spirit, as she so very tactfully and deftly uses the Muse in a way that blows the reader away.
The rhythm of her poems is like cascading notes of music that play through the reader’s mind time and time again. Her soft voice can literally be heard in each poem as she engages the reader to connect with the beauty of Nature, in a most skillful way. Her deep sense of observation and the play of colour and sound hold the reader spellbound.
The first quote, by the great poet and mystic William Shakespeare, goes deep into one’s subconscious. The poems closely follow, leaning towards existentialism to explore a human being’s struggle to lead an authentic life and face:
there are lethal pollutants in our air
and we make indexes to categorize it
instead of laws to halt….
Her acute sense of wordplay and visual acuity is reflected in these lines:
The colors of morning
deep beet merging into rich green
the sound of water meeting a teabag….
In the poem “Cadence of the wind”, she requests the reader to join her in looking closely at Nature:
snowy owls look out over nature
Sensing the savory mood of the season
The meandering gift of time…
What beautiful lines that make one pause and ponder and look at life through a different lens! A wonderful poetic tribute to the Muse by a gifted poet.
Cynthia Sharp thrives on interdisciplinary collaboration and peace education. She has an MFA in creative writing and an Honours BA in literature and has been published and broadcast internationally. Her work has appeared in many anthologies and literary journals including CV2, untethered, Toasted Cheese, Quills, Prism, Haiku Journal & Lantern Magazine, among others, and been nominated for the Pushcart Prize & Best of the Net Anthology. She was the City of Richmond’s 2019 Writer in Residence and loves taking part in diverse literary events through the world. Cynthia trained as a high school language arts and ESL teacher and is available to facilitate poetry and prose writing workshops on Zoom as well as in classrooms at all levels, from elementary school to college to community centres. She lives on the beautiful west coast where she is on the editorial team of The Pitkin Review.