Book Review: An Imperfect Roundness

My daughter made some homemade bath bombs and encouraged me to try them. They were created in a moment of artistic passion- grabbing whatever was at hand, mixing in joyous fervour. Absent of bath-bomb moulds, she used cupcake trays to hold the particles of Epsom salts, baking soda, dried lavender leaves, pink food colouring and cinnamon essential oil.

 

I agreed to try them. I filled the tub, left my phone in a distant room and locked the bathroom door. I slipped into the tub, tipped in the bath bomb mix, and as it fizzed, I reached for Melody Newey Johnson’s poetry book, An Imperfect Roundness.

 

I loved the first poem, ‘Last Night I Prayed’. Normally when a poem strikes me, I turn down the corner of the page so I may revisit it. I can’t turn down the corner of the first page… I thought to myself. Maybe I need to take a moment before I read. I placed the book aside and rested, spoiling myself in meditative, relaxed, mindfulness. Cramped muscles uncurled, and closing my eyes for a time, my mind cleared.

 

Let’s try this again, I thought.

 

I read the first poem again. Okay. I concede. I’ll turn down the corner of the page of the first poem.

 

I read the following poem. It is another bounty. Should I turn the corner of this page down as well, or will the other page I already turned down remind me to look here? Hum. I’ll guess I’ll leave it.  

 

I finally moved to poem #3.  Okay, let’s not worry about turning down corners of pages… the whole book is going to be a bent mess! Maybe I’ll read it, and then go an turn down pages…

 

There I was, my body at a relaxed incline, my heart full. But it was more than that. The words I was reading were familiar; they reflected some of the more personal, intense abstract feelings in my heart that I had been unable to describe. Feelings that I shared with God, thinking He was the only one who could my heart in such a way.

 

I loved it. Many of the poems spoke to me, of me, about me. I wanted to share so many of them with my husband, my children, my mothers, my friends. These are the words of sharing. Whilst I read, I felt that supernal peace I feel when I sit in the Celestial room of the temple. I felt the spirit, and I felt the spirit speak to me. “Love is the best reason to wake up and go outside,” Melody wrote on page 20. And I knew it was true. True in a way that was personal, ethereal. ‘Unfinished Business,’ is the title of the poem, and through it, I saw parts of my life I had forgotten, yet always known. This book blessed me with “A Valentine From God’ and ‘I Sleep Beneath a Quilt,’ both of which wrapped me in words of love, tying me to God, my family, perhaps everyone.

 

That is the gift of this book. It connects to God, and to yourself in a way that few things can. Melody’s words connect you with other women, mothers, sisters, daughters and friends. She reminds us that we feel many things- differently, and yet the same. Many of her poems are visual, and drew me in in ways that only true artistry can.

 

This book is an absolute gift. I have felt more at peace and felt a stronger spirit in my life than I have in years. It is a truly a taste of heaven—perhaps even a generous bite. I strongly recommend this for you and the women in your life.  It is a steal at only $10.95 from Amazon.

 

I’d suggest it as a Christmas gift, but in all honesty… waiting until Christmas feels almost unfair. At my reading, I needed a rest from CORONA, dirty dishes, depressing global news reports, and the unseen tension that seems bubbling within everyone in today’s world. What I found in Melody’s book not only uplifted me, it embraced me with a feeling of sisterhood is intangible, deeply felt, and possibly as soothing as heaven itself.

 

I think you will want to thank Melody for her words of compassion and inspiration. I know I do.