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Review of Patrick James Mooney's Eponymous |
Language barriers, café table conundrums, and smoking bans are but a few of the everyday nuisances Angelinos face. In some places, Patrick Mooney's Eponymous covers the gamut of many of these nonsense everyday dilemmas. And at first consideration, one would hardly find that these topics make enduring poetry. However, what makes Mooney’s work so endearing is his use of such themes to framework his insights as an Angelino. Yet, you need not be an Angelino to relate to these poems. Instead, you simply need to have stuck around long enough in one place to say, “Yeah, I know what he means.”
In other places, Mooney’s collection displays an underlying acknowledgement of more tender emotions. You get a sense that he’s had the same come-and-go loves in life as the rest of us, yet he’s reached a point in which he no longer looks back in regret, but rather in lighthearted understanding. Take these stanzas from "Leave Love Alone" for instance:
If on closing eyes
I can still breathe you
If on holding my breath
my hands can still shape you
If you could pause one moment for me
I would love to be your meadow
If you would be the breeze
Or the stillness between
But not the stream
Or the rusted fence
Or rocky border
Or anything that would ask an end
If this be love then
Leave love alone
To wend its way as it sees fit
Eponymous is the best five-dollar purchase you’ll be able to relate to, honestly. And, like all well-crafted art, you'll find new depth with every read.
Patrick James Mooney is New Yorker in exile gone native in Los Angeles as much as his genetics will allow. He likes jazz and opera, wine and good movies, well written books and well typed poetry. He enjoys walks near, but not on the beach, and the kissing part. His motto used to be "Dig and be dug in return" but now is "Tea and cake or death."
Eponymous. Dancing Bee Publications. paj_mooney@hotmail.com 2003. 24pp. Index.
copyright 2004
Francisco
Dominguez |
