Stephanie Jane reviewed October mourning by Lesléa Newman
A meaningful memorial
3 stars
I downloaded October Mourning from AudioSYNC having previously not been aware of either the book or its tragic inspiration. Leslea Newman was obviously profoundly traumatised by Matthew Shepherd's murder and hearing her words about meeting and speaking for his college friends and classmates is very moving. The poems themselves are simple in form with many using, or perhaps overusing, repetition or listing to make their points. I liked the idea of the variety of viewpoints, human, animal and object and found myself having an unexpectedly emotional response to the poem of the fence. None of the poems stand strongly on their own, but as a collection I think this book is a meaningful memorial. I was surprised by how many poems described more violence being the demanded result of the murder. The father's poem was obviously meant ironically, but the prison guard's 'bang their heads together' and the appalling behaviour …
I downloaded October Mourning from AudioSYNC having previously not been aware of either the book or its tragic inspiration. Leslea Newman was obviously profoundly traumatised by Matthew Shepherd's murder and hearing her words about meeting and speaking for his college friends and classmates is very moving. The poems themselves are simple in form with many using, or perhaps overusing, repetition or listing to make their points. I liked the idea of the variety of viewpoints, human, animal and object and found myself having an unexpectedly emotional response to the poem of the fence. None of the poems stand strongly on their own, but as a collection I think this book is a meaningful memorial. I was surprised by how many poems described more violence being the demanded result of the murder. The father's poem was obviously meant ironically, but the prison guard's 'bang their heads together' and the appalling behaviour of the Christians at Matthew's funeral made me nervous for the future. Solving violence with hatred and more violence is never a good answer.
