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Title of Poetry Book: "Poetry for the Common Man"
Author: Harry E. Gilleland Jr.
Published by: Lulu Press.
Year: 2003
Pages: 187 pp
ISBN: 1-4116-0064 -9
Price: US$12.60 (paperback)
Book size: Workbook size (8.5x 11)
Format: Paperback, glossycover, white pages
Binding: Perfect Bind
Author's Website: www.lulu.com/harry
Harry E. Gilleland Jr. likes to write narrative poems which he calls "storoems". Harry is a very prolific poet that he was able to publish two thick poetry books in 2003 and 2005. Each poetrybook contains around 180 pages. Very unusual. Quite unbelievable but true. I received his two thick poetrybooks last September 2005.
There are 183 poems in his 187-paged debut poetrybook - Poetry For The Common Man- Storoems and Poems.
Harry likes to write his poem in rhymes or free verse. The themes of his poems in the poetrybook vary widely:
i. events in everyday life ("The Jungle In My Backyard", p.165 ),
ii. nature poems ("The Call of the Geese" p.50, "The Lingering Rose", p. 28 ),
iii. Bible-based stories ("The Centurion and the Jew" p. 60, "The Centurion and the Crucifixion", p. 62 ) ,
iv. love ("New Love, Old Love" p. 171 ) ,
v. fantasy ("The Last Unicorn" p.15 ) ,
vi. childhood memories ("End of Summer of 1957", p.32) ,
vii. as professional microbiologist ( "Death On the Bayou", p.53, "The Murder of Crows" p.54) ,
viii. his military assignments ("An Armadillo On the Grill", p.45, "The Wall", p.25 ) ,
ix. observations about people ( "The Beggar" in p176, "The Bird Lady" in p93 ) ,
x. humor ("True Lust", p. 12, "Toilet Seat Etiquette For A Newlywed Man" p. 169 ) ,
xi. family life ("Frog Hunting With A Three Year Old" in p. 35 ) ,
xii. Christmas ("Santa Is Watching You!" p.55) ,
xiii. philosophical poems ("On War", p. 172, "Wise Counsel" p. 175),
xiv. prophetic/ doomsday scenarios ("An Act of Bioterrorism" in p. 167, ) etc.
What is interesting about Harry's poetrybook is his narrative poems or as he calls it "storoems". He writes short stories in poetic form or in rhyme.. For example, he tells us a story about the last remaining unicorn using rhyme -"The Last Unicorn",p.15. He relates a story about rescuing trapped salmons using rhyme - "Saving A Few Salmon" p. 110. He tells a story about an old woman who is fond of birds using rhyme - "The Bird Lady", p. 93. He also tells a story about knights and damsels using rhyme - "A Lover's Quest" p.89. I just mentioned a few excellent narrative poems or storoems among the many storoems in this poetrybook. .
One nature poem that caught my attention is the poem "The Lingering Rose" in page 28. This poem shows Harry's excellent use of the metaphor whereby he compares a single rose to a valiant soldier that is trying to survive in a very harsh conditions. This poem is nominated as "Best Poem of Year 2001-2005" for the 2nd Manila Prize.
Another poem that caught my attention is the poem "Wise Counsel" in p. 175. This free verse poem is about a son's memory of his father's wise words about marriage.
Another poem that caught my attention is the poem- "True Lust" which is actually a humorous poem about ice cream.
An interesting narrative poem in free verse is 'Shark Attack!" p. 179 whereby the parents grieve for their son who was wrongfully thought to be killed or bitten by a shark.
An interesting doomsday scenario is the free verse "Act of Bioterrorism" where mankind is decimated by biological warfare.
Harry is very particular about rhyming. Most of his rhymed poems uses the rhyming schemes as aabb or abab. Few rhymed poems used the abcb or abca pattern ("The Escape of Inanimate Objects" p.129, "Guardian Angels" p. 127).
The meter style of Harry's rhymed poems is very irregular since his meter (number of syllables ) varies from line to another line. Harry has to learn how to write poems in regular meter.
He has around seven acrostic poems (pp.10, 67, 68, 70, 72, 76, 81). An acrostic poem is a poem whose first letter in every line will form a word) . He wrote one limerick.
It is interesting to note that Harry never used traditional poetic structures like the sonnet or haiku in his poetrybook.
As a whole, Harry's poems are not intellectual poems but poems meant to entertain the readers by way of telling a story. The poetrybook is readable even for gradeschool or high students.
In conclusion, if you enjoy reading short stories, you will also enjoy reading harry's narrative poetry as I did.
(End.)
Note: Manila Review may give at least two reviews for one book or even a maximum of 4 reviews for just one book. The reviews may either be a. very short review, b. short review, c. long review, d. very long review and e. constructive criticism reviews (semi-negative reviews). We do not give reviews to belittle the work of the writer or poet.
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