A lifetime of memories restored through poetry dripping with nostalgia
Gathering Memories, Collecting Dust is exactly that: a gathering of memories that otherwise would be collecting dust. It’s a collection granting us vignette-like glimpses into life’s little moments and reflections.
“We promise to take good care of your baggage.
Please retrieve your memories at your destination.
They will be waiting upon your arrival.”
Divided into four sections, Gathering Memories, Collecting Dust recounts moments from birth to youth to motherhood, concluding with reflections from a poet in her eighth decade, all in simple yet moving poems.
In section one, “To Be A Child Again,” we are drawn back to infancy across generations. We witness a granddaughter growing up in the COVID-19 pandemic, a baby just born, memories of daughters on vacations, and a frightful moment for a sister, burned by scalding coffee. We are not bound to a single person’s infancy or a singular perspective, making this section a captivating opener.
In “A Pleasant Place to Grow Up,” we are carried to the next stage of life. Here we primarily follow a young speaker through a childhood of growing up in Washington, D.C.; we are given flashes of her cul-de-sac and a youth unlike that of today, with skate keys and spoons as archaeological tools. This section is especially vignette-like, each poem pulling us inside of a particular memory.
We leap from childhood to motherhood in “I Survived Motherhood.” This section is a stirring testimony of the waves of motherhood, with a juxtaposition of poems featuring fear in its many coats and loss of self, to reflections on the many small choices and collection of transitions that come with raising children.
Gathering Memories, Collecting Dust rounds out with a grand finale in the section titled “Conversations with Myself.” Just as we become more introspective with age, this section is the most reflective of the collection, and this reflection makes each poem hit harder. Here, each poem spends time considering memory, forgetting, the things we’ve lost, and how we change as time goes on.
“Where must I look to uncover memories I know are still hidden?”
In this ever-relevant collection, Abrams skillfully weaves together poems of universal experiences alongside specific memories, bringing you emotionally close to each moment. To read Gathering Memories, Collecting Dust is to cozy up for a thoughtful chat with an old friend, reviving shared memories from the cobwebbed corners of your mind. Even readers of a different generation than Abrams will find themselves nostalgic for times gone by, each poem triggering their own recollections.
This is a rare collection that beckons you to read it all at once. Each section is organized with fluidity, the whole collection working as a singular piece, and yet each poem can still exist artfully on its own. None of the poems are overly complex, and there is an appealing beauty to their simplicity.
Gathering Memories, Collecting Dust sharply develops a worthwhile theme and captures universal emotions and experiences with striking clarity.
The post Gathering Memories, Collecting Dust by Fran Abrams appeared first on Independent Book Review.