Title : REFLECTIONS III
Author : Dalia Vernikovsky
Language : English
Paperback : 186 pages
ISBN : 978-1-953791-36-8
book review by Kirkus Indie
This third installment of a poetry series chronicles a woman’s growth, her relationships, and her philosophy.
As in her two previous volumes, Vernikovsky offers rhyming verses that she centers on the page. The poems are grouped by topic, such as “Family & Friends & More,” and sometimes signal progression, as when “The Painful Moments in Life” is followed by “Beyond the Pain to Magical Moments.” For each of the book’s nine sections, two versions of the same photograph illustrate the theme, one with normal opacity and the other semitransparent. (The photos are uncredited.) Many verses express being caught up in feelings of failure and frustration, often described as “turmoil,” “mayhem,” or “churn.” The speaker feels pressured by her own high expectations of herself, ruminates on past and present difficulties, or feels oppressed by the world’s problems. The remedy, Vernikovsky asserts, is to “decide only to focus on the good parts,” because “Only the expression of joy and happiness should stay / In the memories we create each and every day.” Besides ignoring negative moments, it’s important to “replace them with many more of laughter and glee.” The idea of positivity as a spiritual/psychological approach has many adherents, and like-minded readers will find inspiration in these affirmative verses. For others, though, a refusal to engage with the shadow could feel like superficial denial rather than wholeness.
Few poems in the collection go beneath the surface or supply vivid poetic images for readers to connect with, instead using generic and vague metaphors, such as the often repeated “journey.” The verses provide abstractions that state feelings or ideas rather than showing them, as in “Time is Passing—Emotions strong, lasting”: “Life is beautiful, sensual, amazing”; “Our feelings are so huge”; “This unimaginably amazing feeling.” Similarly, tired clichés substitute for fresher language, such as “Be all that you can be” or “Cut like a knife.” The poems about departed friends or pets are more effective, as in “My Tunte,” which recalls a woman who will, poignantly, “never be older than thirty-nine.” Clearly an animal lover, Vernikovsky touchingly recalls a beloved cat in “Nitro”: “All he knew is that I was home and it was time to eat and play / Towards the end it was more eat than play.” These concrete details of lived experience better conjure up the poem’s subject for readers. But inattention to detail can make the collection feel sloppy, as with some erratic punctuation in “Journey Back”: “Fight..to come out of the dark, / This time,,- YOU are the one that is leaving your mark..” More inattentive still, several poems are repeated, sometimes with different titles. “The flow of life” appears twice, for example, and one verse appears three times as “My Dreams,” “Give it meaning,” and “My Dreams (Give it meaning).” Heartfelt and moving poems that are sometimes too generic.