Rhonda----Straight From The Heart

                                                                                  

MyAnchor in This Dark Sea
By Rhonda Moats

Literary review written by Sheila Parks

The title of this book of poetic works written by Rhonda Moats, My Anchor in This DarkSea, might well be a six-word synopsis of her life and her emotions.

The introduction she includes on the opening pages reveals much about this Pennsylvania girl as she grew from a child, into adulthood and beyond.  One imagines her life as a swirl of emotionally dark days punctuated by beams of light that raise her spirits above the dark waters.   As I read her poetry, I couldn't help but feel the ever-present storms in Ms. Moats' life that often threaten to tear her anchor loose from the shifting sands of time.
Ms. Moats blends an unusual combination of free verse with rhymes within each poem that might further illustrate her sometimes chaotic, sometimes peaceful life.  Her selection of words also changes from the child in Pennsylvania to the harried mother raising her family and at times you can almost feel the tension and then the release in her dictum.  Her work is an interesting study of life, not so much through her use of words, but rather through her subject matter and theinnuendos of things left unsaid.

Her opening poem entitled, Our Father, is a good example of her resonating thoughts that fluctuate from the glories of our Heavenly Father to an earthly appellation that compares God with a family structure in a sort of child like understanding.  Her very next offering, Innocence, almost greaves for the loss of childhood and yearns for the simplicity of life as she remembers it from her care free yester days.  Her equation for our existence on this earth likens childhood days with innocence and love, and adulthood with hate and anger and then laments the plight of today's children.

As one reads through Ms. Moats book of poetry, they are at first subdued by the tenor of the various poems.  A thread of emptiness,despair, grief, tears, deprivation, anger, hate and sadness is woven into thefabric of her prosaic tapestry, but then the timbre of her writing changes and titles appear like Spring and Friendly Words and Rose Petals.  The reader is rewarded by the mention of happy occasions and uplifting times.  Her poem about spring speaks of new beginnings and the beauty of the fresh blossoms and colorful birds.  There seems to be a rekindled element of hope.  But, alas, the poetics return to the dark sea from wince they came and her work ends with a sorrowful refrain from her final poem entitled, Annoying, where she writes; Death is all that's in sight, fall to our knees, pray to our Lord, this battle is too big to fight.  

I have my own seven-point scale I use when I critique a literary work:

1.     Originality
2.     Form
3.     Variation
4.     Progression
5.     Rhythm
6.     Impetus
7.     Consistency

I would grade Ms. Moats work on a 10 point scale as follows, where 1 is poor and 10 is excellent:

           Originality=8
           Form=4
           Variation=3
           Progression=4
           Rhythm=2
           Impetus=4
           Consistency=5

Rhonda Moats shows promise as a writer of poetry and this being her first published work allows for some lower scores.  Most poets write about their own life experiences, however as they do more writing, they expand their horizons.  Her work is well worth reading because it opens up a window on her soul and makes the reader examine his or her own life values and perspectives.  

To Ms. Moats, I would say keep writing and see where it will lead you in terms of moving away from your own self and toward people, places and things with whom you come in contact.  You're well on your way to discovering the Rhonda Moats of the future, an optimistic mother and teacher,an observer of people and the spectacular and wonderful things God has given.  

Thank you for allowing me to review your work, My Anchor is This Dark Sea and I hope my critique will be helpful to you.  I give your book an even 30 points, a good beginning on your journey to the future.

Sheila Parks