STARRED Book Review: 51 Poems

Reviewed by Susan Morris

An exceptional, clever, and inspiring collection of open-form poetry

This collection is inviting, funny, touching, and has a unique power to move and connect. I cannot tell you how much I loved this book for its ability to reach into my heart. But I will try! 

51 Poems makes me think of food courts, love, arrests, consumerism, secrets, innocence, forgiveness, childrearing, charity, religion, aging, memories, and justice. The poems carry tension in their beats, and the emotions feel real.

Taking a contemporary approach, Ballantyne’s poetry emerges as a consoling, voice-driven collection. It illuminates everyday events with evocative images and snippets of interjecting thoughts, layered into a recognizable theme. The care gone into this collection is apparent in its arrangement and brevity.

Ballantyne is a poet to watch. 51 Poems is an impressive debut.

“Fire spiteful” begins the collection with rich imagery and infinite horizons. The third poem, “The food court,” had me laughing out loud. A colorful world with delightful delightful descriptions and a fresh twist on the meaning of a food court in the span of short space.“embarrassment[’s]” unique form and ability to build an appropriate pitch of tension.

Ballantyne takes readers on a sweeping journey through these expansive poems, inviting them to contemplate mindfulness, self-acceptance, identity, adulthood, intimacy, and living well. “Dance” holds particular weight in Ballantyne’s theme of imperfection, learning, and vulnerability. “Step lithe / For the hope to show your course / As the river runs fearful, of course / No mistakes here / Mis-takes, my friend, are the course”

“Entering the ocean” could be a print on the wall in my dream beach house.“for strength” could be my mantra. “guidance” puts into words the tense struggle to do what you know is right in the face of conflict. “nurturing” is profound: “They could not possibly know why, until / after they had done it.”

With its charm and humorous juxtaposition, 51 Poems is a collection for just about anyone, including those who have stood aside at a poetry reading or lecture and said, “I just don’t get it.” Ballantyne takes serious philosophical subjects like conscience and delivers a lighthearted, youthful story with carefully chosen words and layered meaning in nearly every poem. I hope you will check out this fantastic book. All I’m asking is for other people to fall in love with it like I did—so we can talk about it!

Because it’s such a lovely summary of the truth and beauty found in this collection, I’ll leave you with the final lines of “the analysis of dreams in which we are slowly heading out to sea:” “You’ve only just got to the source / Don’t rush to explain it away, away.”

---

Thank you for reading Susan Morris’s book review of 51 Poems by Edgar Ballantyne! If you liked what you read, please spend some more time with us at the links below.