Book Review

A Place Called Return (Sienna Elizabeth Raimonde)

Review by Yvette Green

Have you ever wanted to return to the familiar? A childhood home, the family church, secret places that only you and your best friend knew about? A Place Called Return revels in returning to places, situations and memories of the author's life. It is a book of real experiences, some good, some bad, some joyful some painful.

Sienna Elizabeth Raimonde allows us to glimpse the many facets that have made her what she is. In her forward, she references Thomas Wolfe's book, You Can't Go Home Again saying, "and while this may be true in some cases, I have discovered that in God, there is always a way back--a home filled with warmth, nurturing, and a welcoming embrace…..always returning; coming close to the edge, but never falling off completely. That, my friends, is the grace of God." Raimonde shows her spiritual side also in this book. In a day where political correctness and sensitivity towards the public often discolors and degrades what otherwise would be excellent writing, she writes about what her belief system is in prose and poetry. The book is divided into eight sections, dealing with significant yet poignant episodes in where the author perceives "that we are all like sea glass, hurled about egregiously by the waves, until our sharp edges are softened and we get tossed to shore as tiny, smooth, opaque treasures, ready to be hand-picked by God".

In the last paragraph the author states that whatever she's been through, "God's River" has sustained and kept her focused. She quotes Norman Maclean who said, "Eventually, all things merge into one, and a river runs through it". Raimonde often makes references to water in its natural setting, especially creeks. In her poem "Creeks", she says she has "never seen an ugly creek". There is a strong connection to nature and everything her life is involved in, ever moving, but then ever staying the same.

In "Return to Nature", she extols the virtues of nature which is embodied in the poem called "Birds Eye", where it says

Nature seems to be speaking
To a sleeping giant-the human race
Peace be still
Uncover your eyes
See.

In Return to Faith, "Forgive Us Our Debts", she forgives people in her life who should have been a positive influence, but somehow couldn't measure up. At the end of her poem she even forgives God:

Finally, I forgive God
For the things I blame Him for
But I shouldn't. And God said
Let there be light...and there was.

The section I was most impressed with is Returning to Reflection because it mixes nature, spirituality, family and relationships all together.

There are two poems, in my opinion that tell us the when and the why of this collection. One is called "Call of the Wind". I appreciate how she words a poet's mind-set, especially the first stanza:

A poet is always
Before or after her time
Too prophetic to mix in
With the now crowd
Too proud to exorcise her madness.

As a poet myself, I often feel what I write would be appealing to an earlier, more simpler time, or to somewhere in the future where my ordinary might become newly discovered, but never finding a niche in the present. The last stanza reads:

She (the poet) never chose to be a poet--
She only chose, to know.

I suggest reading this poem first before the rest of the book to understand what she really means by the word "Return". The other poem is "Famous Poem" in which the author aspires to write something so great that it will last through the ages:

Someday I want to write
The world's greatest poem
Leaving a legend that will outlast
The famous dead poets

Don't we all?

This collection of poems is an enjoyable read for those of us who "wax nostalgic", who when we hear the sound of water, celebrate the holidays, or look into aged eyes trigger fond or relevant memories which significantly change us or move us in a profound way.

A Place Called Return

A Place Called Return is published by Xlibris Corporation. To order, call 1-888-795-4274, or go to the website at Orders@Xlibris.com.