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Reviewed by Emily-Jane Hills Orford for Readers' Favorite
Thoughts come and thoughts go; sometimes they flit through the mind and leave nothing behind but a whisper of ideas or, worse, the frustrating randomness of a void slate. Life is like that: random, fleeting, and even at times flighty. As Hermione Lee shares in her collection of poetry, Fragments of a Random Mind, life is poetic, sincere, compassionate, reflective and so much more – all random ideas pieced together like a patchwork quilt. Poetry allows the mind to unravel the beauty of life, as well as the sorrow, the humorous aspects as well as the tragic losses. Well-positioned words, sometimes fragmented themselves, bare the poet’s soul as she shares her thoughts and her random thought patterns.
Hermione Lee’s chapbook, Fragments of a Random Mind: A Poetry Collection, is the author/poet’s first anthology of poems. The book is divided into five sections, themes dealing with life, loss and love, nature and the world, writerly reflections, people, strangers, and society, and just a word of motivation in case the reader needs it. As we plow our way through life, we will always encounter the ‘nay’ sayers, those who are convinced (and they try to convince us) that we can’t do it, that we are not worthy of such lofty expectations. “They told me I couldn’t do it/ They gave me all sorts of excuses -/ … But how would they know/ if they never gave me a chance/ to prove them wrong?” This poet did prove them wrong and she aspires to encourage readers to do the same, to plow ever forward and never give up. I particularly like the title. It’s very apropos of life which does tend to fracture a mind into random fragments. The entire contents of this book are written in verse; even the Acknowledgments and Writer’s Note are written in free verse. Throughout her discourse, the author/poet is ever encouraging, sharing her thoughts in the hopes of inspiring the thoughts and creative ventures of readers. “If I have/ touched a heart,/ moved a mind,/ or comforted a lost soul,/ then I will not have written these poems in vain.” Very profound words that resonate throughout this collection. Well done!
