Poetry Chapbook Review:
Sonata for Rain
By Rebecca Gonzalez
Rebecca Gonzalez is the female counterpart to Neruda. If the Chilean master were alive today he could get in touch with his feminine side by sitting through a reading of Rebecca Gonzalez's 36-poem chapbook
Sonata for Rain.
I have to hand it to Le Hinton of Iris G. Press. He knows how to pick his poets. The publisher of
Sonata for Rain pulled down heaven for this one.
Many new poets make the mistake of publishing too many poems at one time, but not Rebecca Gonzalez. She can be admired as much for what she withholds as by what she tells.
Sonata for Rain is a lyrical concerto, like cool jazz in an early morning sunrise. Elegant, spiritual, cerebral … there is no deficit of language to describe the beauty that Gonzalez brings to the craft of poetry. More widely published poets with greater name recognition would do well to sit down and read through
Sonata for Rain - and bring your pencil because you'll need to take notes.
Gonzalez's commitment to poetic tradition is best viewed through her ability to take risks without landing on shards of shattered glass. When she experiments, and thankfully she does so only in small doses, she delivers a masterpiece. The perfect example is the incredible "La Scala, Lost in Translation and the You in the I":
| you are the mute in me |
the speaking silence |
leave me speechless |
| the black and white |
blinking neon lights |
color me alive |
| at the Piazza |
above the towering skyscrapers |
right here |
| smile for me |
think of me |
draw me in |
| life is too complex |
this is all I can't ask for |
I need you |
| be passionate |
remember me |
like a breath |
| the speaking silence |
| blinking neon lights |
| above the towering skyscrapers |
| think of me |
| this is all I can't ask for |
| remember me |
| leave me speechless |
| color me alive |
| right here |
| draw me in |
| I need you |
| like a breath |
Gonzalez's versatility is tempered by her cultural and linguistic bilingualism and a unique ability to capture the right word or phrase, exercising brevity in uncanny ways to deliver the perfect line time after time. I've tried to look for blemishes in
Sonata for Rain, but it was like trying to find the imperfection in a birthmark or a crag in a petrified rock. The tarnishes are the gold.
After 36 poems, if are not sipping from the tea cup of passion then you aren't breathing enough oxygen.
Sonata for Rain is an incredible read and your life will be improved just by touching it.
For more information about how to get a copy of
Sonata for Rain by Rebecca Gonzalez,
visit Iris G Press's website.
