ALL ABOARD THE VIKING SHIP
Happy National Poetry Month! Her poetry’s cosmic angle brought so much life to this book. Every display of introspection revealed shaman-like wisdom. Serious Longing by Jessica M. Wilson is a book of poetry filled with a rawness only a poet in touch with the cosmos could pull off. Some even make you question if she channeled the spirits of Jim Morrison or John Lennon to intensify the poignancy of her work.
The following in-depth review contains no spoilers.
This book had numerous poems to dissect, but only one was perfect for my review. The one I picked surprised me with its display of a teacher’s passion for teaching poetry. According to the author bio about Ms. Wilson, who is now Ms. Wilson Cardenas, she is a teacher herself. This fact enhanced the poem’s authenticity exponentially. It gave a sense of her actual immense passion for sharing poetry that ignites her students’ creativity. The way she uses a Viking ship to anchor the metaphor of the poem is proof of her top-notch writing ability, while simultaneously showing her undeniable hunger to introduce her students to the power of poetry. The poem is called Landing: for the kids. It’s located on page 27 of Ms. Wilson’s book.
ISLAND OF FANTASY
The poem’s first stanza sets up the metaphor beautifully, starting with a close-up shot of a jaw that “snaps a tooth, / navigates across the sea” (27). However, the beginning also creates a sense that there’s more to this image, and then it happens! The poet zooms out by showing you “a Viking ship / bringing poetry students / to the island of fantasy” (27). Now that you’re able to see the Viking ship, the fantasy of it all comes through vividly; it’s like I can see the captain with their lost tooth commanding the ship. But it’s the way the stanza ends that sets the path for the rest of the poem; it ends with the line, “All rules evaporate into the air” (27). By giving off Lost Boys energy with the last line, it creates a powerful sense that the captain or teacher has created a zone unconstrained by reality. I could imagine the smiles on the students’ faces when they realize all those rules in writing disappear when it comes to poetry.
ENJOY THE FAT BOUNCY NOTES
Now that we’ve gotten to stanza two, Wilson Cardenas immediately hits you with a reference to the same jaw which was referenced in stanza one. However, this time, the jaw “grows a tongue and rolls an ‘R’” (27). By the next line, you understand why the jaw’s evolution is integral to the process of the captain or teacher being able to influence the students: “erre pushes on the sails / hoisted above the clouds” (27). This image shows the Viking ship moving with the sound acting as a metaphor for the wind needed to continue, almost as if she’s learning the Spanish, I think, her students speak. The metaphor deepens after this movement, revealing the captain or teacher’s “teeth unfold into a delicate stairway, / docking into worlds where steam flies / between trees and gives birth to sound; / fat bouncy notes drop like apples” (27). I can see the shiny apples, enticing the students to eat, and they do! “Students pick them up, take a bite. / Black juice runs from their cheeks” (27). To write this moment this way proves the poet’s passion for teaching students about the magic of poetry’s limitless creativity.
THE TEACHER’S VIEW
As for the third and last stanza, the poet ties it all together masterfully, showcasing the result of inspiring their students to write poetry. The line capturing this moment states, “They are now rabid, / red-fleshed with creative urgency, / scissored fingers write new reality” (27). This wonderful close conjures images of classrooms so quiet, all you can hear is pens writing furiously on paper. The poet captures this view as though the teacher is looking out upon their classroom, enjoying the sight of inspired students, anticipating the joy of reading their poetry. Only a poet who understands the reward of teaching poetry, while simultaneously having a passion for writing it, could create this poem showing the essence of a teacher inspiring students to write their poetry, and communicating it clearer than an image on Google. Her poem proves anyone would be lucky to be one of Jessica’s students, regardless of what she’s teaching, because the poem also gives the sense that she approaches everything she teaches with the same passion.
ROCK OUT
This is just one example of the many enthralling poems Ms. Wilson wrote for her book. There was this really thought-provoking poem about our connection to indigenous history, which becomes profound when you see in Ms. Wilson’s bio that she also has Navajo roots. This also amplifies another poem she wrote for Pachamama. It was wonderful reading these after each other, giving the read a symbiotic effect. Another example of this effect happening throughout Ms. Wilson’s poetry appears when she shows the human condition, displaying humanity’s role in society and how this impacts our being. In totality, these poems raise profound questions about how modern society functions. Then there’s the poem after Landing: for the kids, which reveals language’s ability to unite humanity, and its message’s intensity is heightened by its symbiotic relationship with teaching the unifying power of language through her poetry.
Overall, Serious Longing by Jessica M. Wilson Cardenas is a deep look at humanity. It delves into so many profound topics; I don’t want to spoil all the surprises and ruin the effect. If you’re a fan of classic rock n’ roll, you’ll especially love the vibe of her poems. I’m sure you’ll find kinship from being fans of the same GOATs of rock.
Thank you for reading our in-depth book review about Serious Longing by Jessica M. Wilson. We are not affiliated with the publisher, but here’s the link to pick up a copy.
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E. R. Sanchez is the author of Fried Potato Press’s first young adult thriller, Tell Them Goodbye (Third Death Series Book 1). It’s a novel based on true events, set in 1970s Mexico, about two teens running away from their family’s ranch after witnessing their cousin’s murder, and then being forced to take over his marijuana operation. They think telling no one is the best way to protect their family from the murderer’s wrath and avoid being part of the beginning of the cartel’s organized crime era. If you’d like to read Sanchez’s work that was published online, please click here to go to his Stories and Poetry Section.