OUTBRANCHING by Scharlie Meeuws: A Review

Review by Noo:

There is a fragility and beauty running right through Scharlie Meeuws’ collection of poetry,Outbranching.  The collection is split into four sections, moving from memories and dreams, through betrayal and darkness, to nature, wisdom and finally, healing.  As you read the poems in each section, you make this same journey and are both touched and transformed by the words in each poem.

Scharlie has her own take on the world, but there is nothing in her writing that is so obscurely personal as to be off-putting to the reader.  Rather, you can recognise aspects of any human life experience and appreciate how Scharlie artfully weaves it into her poems.

There is something so visual about Scharlie’s poetry that it would come as no surprise to find out she draws or paints.  There is a delicate and nuanced quality to her choice of words that suggests someone who thinks in images.

The tone of the collection is wistful, sad in places without ever being maudlin, and there is also a sly humour present, directed at the strangeness and unpredictability of the world.

Throughout the whole collection, wisdom runs through – what we learn through choice and what we learn because we have to.  Like in all the best poetry, Scharlie writes about people, places and the stuff that makes up life. When you finish her collection, also like the best poetry, you’re sad to leave it and because of it, you see the world a little bit differently.

About Outbranching:

Scharlie has been a member of ABCtales for many years, where she writes as Yutka.

This is how she describes her new poetry collection:

“Words are my arthropod feelers with which I carefully sense my way in an outbranching
world...

 

When a poem is a true expression of feeling, it can be liberating. The pace and timing
of words reveal a full and surprising range of meaning, which I believe is best
expressed through the use of simple language. While I like to depict the scale
of events, scenery and emotions, I prefer to do so almost invisibly.

 

Poems are small on the page, but can swell to fill the mind.

 

In this collection, poems drift in and out of inner space, explore loss and death, love
and feelings, forever interwoven with a thicket of branches, enlivened by an
occasional cluster of colourful blooms.”

 

 

It is available to buy now here: https://cerasuspoetry.com/books/outbranching/

 

or on Amazon if you aren't in the UK.

Cerasus Poetry is an independant publishing venture by an ABCTales stalwart and ABCTales will receive a small percentage from any profits.

Comments

What a lovely surprise! Thank you, Noo, for your kind words!

 

yes, a lovely book.