Bessie's Resurrection

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Book Review

Bessie'sResurrection

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Book Title: Bessie’s ResurrectionAuthor: Kimberly A. CollinsPublisher: Indolent BooksReviewer: Charlie R. Braxton

In traditional African society, poets held a special place

in the hearts and minds of the people. Not only were they charged with the lofty task of being the absolute best at mastering the craft of writing poetry, they were also charged with the duty of preserving village and tribal history for future generations to access. This, above all other was a sacred task for the poet because through their verse the reader was not only able to learn history that was relevant to them but, through this knowledge, they were also able to tap into the power and wisdom of their ancestors, whom they believe are with them always. So in a sense, to write and recite historical verse is a form a magic used to conjure up the spirit of the ancestors, ensuring that they live on.

For Westerners this all may sound like some kind of spooky mumbo jumbo, the kind you would see in a horror film written and directed by Wes Craven. But, to traditional Africans, as with most indigenous cultures, this is reality. To them, there is no separation between the physical and the spiritual realm, they are both one in the same-a continuum that forms a loop that is eternal as life itself. This is the philosophical basis that lies at the heart of the literary movement, Magic Realism. This

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is why it is important to understand that when African- American poets engage in writing historical poetry, they are not doing it to be trendy or win some kind of award, although some have won a few awards and rightfully so, they are really practicing what I call literary Voodoo, praising and raising forth their ancestors via the printed word. This brings us to poet, Kimberly Collins’ new book Bessie’s Resurrection, which is a fine illustration of what I am talking about.

Bessie’s Resurrection is a book of historical poem that focuses on the stories of the lives of three women, named Bessie. Two of the women, Bessie Smith and Bessie Coleman, are historical figures while the other, Bessie Mears, is a character from Richard Wright’s classic novel, Native Son. Using her superb poetic skills Collins weaves the persona of these three women into a poetic trilogy that examines broader issues faced by Black women, the world over.

Collins opens Bessie’s Resurrection with the powerful poem, Bessie’s Gospel, which serves to remind the reader that the pain and suffering inflicted upon the Bessies in this book is the same pain and suffering that is inflicted upon Black women the world over, often times, sad to say, by the men whom they have chosen to love, men who look like them.

“Our blues breaking a black belt of sky disappearing shards of yellow saved by sunrise stubborn to be gone.

Souls howling our blues of misery voices strumming one sound.”

Here Collins evokes the blues ethos to immerse the readers into the baptismal water of the pain that has enveloped the lives of her three personas. The first poem is, at its core a ritual poem meant to conjure up the blues ethos in the form of the female persona. The poem is meant to initiate the reader into the experience of the three women the author is writing about. It is there to prepare us for the storied journey to come. It is also

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Volume 5.8 February 27, 2019

BESSIE'S RESURRECTION... cont.

designed to show us how the pain in Bessie Mears, Bessie Coleman and Bessie Smith’s lives is intimately connected to the pain in the lives of our mothers, sisters, friends, wives and lovers.

In addition to her splendid yoking of the blues ethos, Collins does an excellent job of using the traditional techniques blues singers to give voice to each of her poetic personas. Take for example this extensive excerpt from SHE Song, the poem for Richard Wright’s character Bessie Mears, (who is named after Bessie Smith, by the way).

“A woman can love a man more than sheA woman can love a man more than sheO yes she can

While many critics will praise Bessie’s Resurrection as a fine example African American historical poetry, and, given the fact the poems’ three personas are historical figures, albeit one is fictional, they would be well within their right to do so. But, I see this book as that and more. At its core, Bessie’s Resurrection is a book of good ole fashion, downhome, gutbucket Blues Poetry that is written in the grand tradition of great poets like Sterling Brown, Langston Hughes and Sterling Plumpp.

She give her time She give her dime

She don’t give a damn she lovin’ that man more than she

she givin’ her whole self

wholeshe givin’ her whole self whole

A woman can love a man like thatA woman can love a man like thatO yes she can

Kicked in the gut with love’s steel toe Kicked in the gut with love’s steel toe

Lovin’ that man the way she doLovin’ that man the way she doShe sorrow got no place to go”

Here, you will note that Collins demonstrates her profound understanding of the blues by structuring the poem like the lyrics of a Delta Blues song. Collins also makes sporadic use of rhyme as well as the excellent use of both repetition and refrain to illustrate the depths of her Bessie Mears’ love for her man, the lyrical repetition also drives home the complexity of loving someone who doesn’t love her back. In addition, Collins uses these techniques to emphasize how damaging that love can be by listing all of the things she is willing to endure to keep her unrequited love around. This is a technique that Collins will adeptly use throughout the book on poems like “Native Daughter,” “Bessie’s Every Woman Blues” and “Hand-Me-Down Mean”

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