"Rhapsody for Lessons Learned or Remembered" by Georgia Ann Banks-Martin

Rhapsody for Lessons Learned or Remembered
Author: Georgia Ann Banks-Martin
Published by: Plain View Press (November 1st, 2010)
Genre: Poetry
Format: Mass-Market Paperback
ISBN: 978-1935514640
Number of pages: 80
Age Recommendation: 18+ for Adult & Mature Themes

About the Book:

"Georgia Banks-Martin walks us through an art gallery. We view art, which she has processed and questions, through her lens: Lawrence, Monet, Van Gogh, Beardon, Sargent, Degas, to name a few of the artists. She challenges the reader to face slavery, grief, and joy, to feel the weight the South bears, to examine art across centuries for lessons. These poems revive what has been omitted in our history books-individual life stories. She uses sound, music and voice to make imagery pulse in these ekphrastic poems. In her poem "Railroad Station," after a Jacob Lawrence: "Those leaving the towns where father and mother/labored in fields without being offered a yard of thread spun/from the cotton they pulled, have assembled./Packed: Hopes of work, three bedroom homes/water heated in water tanks, classrooms." as memories populate her poems, so does the theme of hope permeate her book; in Death Dancing, after a Max Slevogt: "I wish memories could be buried as easily as bodies."...a book to remember as you stand face to face with art." - Julene Tripp Weaver, Author of No Father Can Save Her

Buy the BOOK at:
Amazon.com
Amazon.ca
Amazon.uk
Books-A-Million
Waterstones
Barnes & Noble.com

My Thoughts:

I am not a huge fan of poetry, so I almost let this book pass me by, yet there was something captivating about the cover and title that made me give it a second glance. I decided to go to Amazon and preview it and was instantly hooked.

Each poem is not very long, but in those lines, so much is said. I have hear others speak about painting with words, but until now, I've never truly experienced that in poetry. Each poem was powerful and said so much, and I could actually visualize those thoughts, like walking through a gallery and looking at a row of paintings. This book had the same effect on me as the National Gallery did the first time I visited. Each is so full of life and feeling, that I really needed to reflect on what I experienced from each one.

Georgia Ann Banks-Martin has made me look at poetry in a new light. She has made me want to explore what this genre has to offer and that, in itself, says volumes!

About the Author:

Georgia Ann Banks-Martin grew up on the southwest side of Detroit and moved to Montgomery, AL, where she completed her final year of high school. She earned her BA in English, Language Arts at Huntingdon College, Montgomery, AL, her M.F.A. (Poetry) at Queens University of Charlotte, Charlotte, NC, and is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Mythological Studies at Pacifica Graduate Institute, Carpentaria, CA. She and her husband, Roger D. Martin currently live in Montgomery, AL with their dog and three lovely cats.

Where you can find and follow Georgia Ann Banks-Martin
Author Website
Poets & Writers Forum
Facebook Page
Facebook Profile

An e-book was supplied so that I could give my honest opinion about the contents.