Review on “Sojourns”, a poetry book by John P Drudge
The wandering thoughts can hit the introspection and intuition. Our regret may become a part of healing metamorphosis when we wear the cloak of travel. Wishes can be reflected on the rocks, that we step or see. Travel softens and refreshes the mind. The bold rocks that we encounter while traveling actually, allow us to know a lot about travelling. This is a philosophical idea that even rocks can have our wishes. Maybe our wishes while we travel are not so vague. We even wish that those hard rocks receive us emotionally. This is my first impression from the opening poem of this collection entitled “Drifting.” The drift will surely enthrall me. Travel intensifies our own introspection and changes that to our worldview.
Travel reveals the world slowly. Furthermore, when we travel with our soulmate, time ticks by slow. John takes us to the chateau, with such an ease. He even reveals the history that Romans kept watch upon the shore from the chateau. The hill, the sea, the train all are the trumpets of travel with a soothing melody. Sojourn is a transportation of words in honor of the travel. The descriptions in the poem are like a tool of an ambivert. How precise the contents of the book are, creates a permanent sojourn. To capture travel in words, is to transport the reader to the architecture of the journey.
I can enjoy the sip of French Pastis (a French Liqueur) just by reading the collection. A jazz being played and every tomorrow being a certainty makes me feel that the travel made by the poet was so relaxed and unhurried. I can imagine being in a bristo (a small, relatively simple restaurant, especially one offering French or French-style food) and my eastern traveling sensation to the west reaches a climax.
In the poem entitled “Marseilles” John Drudge speaks of a baby who fusses a little and falls back to sleep. Most importantly he says:
As the rain fell harder
And the baby fussed
Just a little
Falling back asleep
As we held hands
And drank red wine
And savored our new forever
Beyond the crossroads
Of our youth (Marseilles)
The savoring of this new forever beyond the crossroads of their youth is like a birth of a damasked rose. The poet is at the crossroad beyond the youth. This is rejuvenation and a forever cherished wonder; a part of permanent sojourn that can be plucked from the album of time.
Toward Saint Jean Cap Ferrat
Where they had come
To escape the world
And to rest once again
Like new lovers
In the arms
Of disbelief (Cote d’Azur)
Like “New Lovers in the Arms of Disbelief” shows the trust and faith in the travel, and how much it means for the travelers. Traveling is an unknown territory yet there is faith in it. This irony about disbelief speaks louder than the meaning in this poetry collection. The description of the travel here, is not superficial; it has deep roots. Also, lovers get back to cuddle their love and try to escape the world. Travel nurtures two souls who travel together. They kindle their love under the stars of travel.
Almost every poem in “Sojourns” seem to have a philosophical gist and a human-element. This human-element is always receiving the impression apart from descriptions of the places. Our subject is at the receiving end, and we are acquainted with the impression felt by the subject. That makes this collection lively and full of tenderness. Emotions get generated at the picturesque level, along with winding course of descriptions of places.
How the dullness of entering into Paris from the Airport is made lively later can be seen in the important poem of the collection titled “Paris in Transition.” And, the descriptions in every poem is so thematic to the entire trails that each poem leaves behind, already making a permanent impression in the readers’ recollection of each poems.
Poet John Drudge uses apt vocabulary in his short poems. The brevity of these poems lies in the apt vocabulary. John Drudge is a master word weaver who gifts a garland of poetic festivity to the readers. The poetic experience to read Drudge’s poem is that a dart of beauty heals you. The poems are swift, yet they create deep impressions. The companionship in this journey of Drudge allows them to find quietness in their favorite park. The intimacy is celebrated like the revealing travel destinations, felt throughout the reading.
This poetry book by John Drudge is a complete book that documents his traveling to France because the ending part of the book also provides some verses on homecoming. Amid the bustle of travels and its intricacies John remembers his home when the travel was about to come to the end. John is traveling in company with his wife. The poems have touched that companionship too. Poet John Drudge is not alone during his travel, and the emotive words in this poetry collection has enveloped his interpersonal thoughts and observations, with his companion.
I truly enjoyed the journey of travel by Poet John Drudge. I am very fortunate to receive an opportunity to review this book. I have learnt a lot about France through these carefully crafted verses. I have learnt how to appreciate travel and ponder on new ideas which traveling brings. I thank poet John Drudge for these vocabularies and awakening an interest of travel in me, through this book.
Sushant Thapa
Book Name: Sojourns
Genre: Poetry
Publisher: Barrio Blues Press, Chicago, USA
Author: John P Drudge
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