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The Heart Has a Homely Face
James Victor Anderson
Reviewed by: Mihir Shah, The US Review of Books
“I never need to see
where I go.
I follow what hills
And mountains know
And never betray their wills.”
From his intimate connection with nature to his unyielding practice of Tai Chi, Anderson’s poetry allows a glimpse into how he sees the universe as it unravels in everyday life. Unsurprisingly, his upbringing in the coastal towns of North Bend and Coos Bay planted the seeds for a vision of life anchored in the movement of nature, away from the mayhem of the material world. In each poem, with such grace and simplicity, Anderson is able to capture the entrancing quality of nature and almost magically bend it to his will through an exceptional command of figurative language—chiefly similes, metaphors, and imagery.
A strong sense of interconnectedness with all of creation permeates throughout as Anderson opens up a time capsule for audiences to take a trip down memory lane. Early on, in “Echo,” the emphasis on the word “Remember” winds back to the simplicity and blissful ignorance of childhood, the days of roaming free and truly being free. The Taoist perspective is apparent and adds a unique dimension to the works as it strives for an understanding of balance and harmony in an ever-moving world.
In many ways, Anderson’s poetry is like that soft whisper carried by the wind, meant for ears inundated with turmoil and turbulence. Truly, every image is captured with such precision and knowing that the reader must surrender for this precious period of time and simply absorb the force of nature that is this compilation. Whether it is the description of silent meditation, “passing like the feet of children / running into distant darkness,” or the migration of seasons in “The Homely Pint,” as “winter running over windowsills,” there is clearly a grace and ease with which the words come together that breathes life into each poem.
The heartbeat of the compilation is the poet’s ability to use personification to create an instant and age-old connection between readers. Sometimes, it’s the all-knowing mountains, while at other times, it’s time apologizing to the wind. But in each case, Anderson allowing his audience to be fully present is undoubtedly what makes his work stand out. At its core, this is a liberating experience, one that urges readers to be at one with nature and to break free from the judgment and scrutiny levied by religionists.
Through poems like “Quiet Servant Earth,” where rocky hills are personified to be listening to hermits emerging after years in the wilderness or hunting for the deeper meaning behind “Shanghai Bowl of Rice,” Anderson’s work is a cornucopia of color and inner reflection. Even the poems that seem mundane have a transcendental quality to them that ties back to Anderson’s roots in Taoism. Interestingly, be it the wind, the moon, mountains, etc., nature is a primary character in Anderson’s work, and on an overarching level, he succeeds in demonstrating nature’s awe as well as fleeting time. In the end, all actions become one, and one returns to that from which they came. Overall, Anderson’s poetry is electrifying. It is an ode to nature and one’s search for inner calm and how, once found, life can present itself in beautiful ways, even while doing the most simple of things.
RECOMMENDED by the US Review
