Paul Rance Reviews Alley Cat by Christine Bruness

Alley Cat is a glorious slim volume of poetry from New Jersey poetess Christine Bruness. However, those of you who have read Christine's work on Associated Content won't be surprised at the high quality poetry displayed here.

Published in 2008 by Covert Press, with a foreword by John Dorsey, Alley Cat comprises of 21 mostly short poems, and what strikes the reader is the insightfulness of the poetry, combined with an underlying humanity and frustration at the way society is heading - or has already reached. The poetry is particularly perceptive in the way that it understands people.

Examples of this perception, for the facade we all sometimes put on, for example, is Undone, which accurately portrays that feeling, particularly when one is young, and bowing down to peer pressure, of the relief when we find the confidence to be ourselves. Other examples of perceptive poetry are Ahead of His Time, which is about someone bottling up all their emotions, not wanting to love, remaining unloved, and dying alone. The Laundress accurately depicts the life of a woman just struggling to survive, and how she appears to others is not top of her list of priorities - something the middle classes often don't 'get'.

Christine's frustrations with some aspects of modern life shines through with Media TV - "...these phony gods/Who wouldn't exist/If you pulled the plug", and her poem about the internet - Mind Pollution, and THE PRIZE, which is about fighting against the Big Brother invasiveness in modern society.

The poetry is deep, but is of an uplifting, inspiring nature, and some simple poems like Her Hat Box remind us what really matters. Band Days and Her Blank Canvas are poems of gentle eroticism. Mistaken Identity, a poem about why revisiting one's past is not always a great idea. Fever and Bleeding Bottles are about the perils of booze. Fragmented and Until? are about the way women are often made to feel unworthy in today's society. Hoping is poignant, and the barbed Alive with Electric Words sounds like the poetry reading from hell, with the male poets pouring out their sexual desires behind their 'poetry'!

This collection ends with the mysterious Elusive, and begins with Alley Cat, and Christine's poem about befriending a stray cat - appropriate, for the author is a great cat lover, and cats adorn the front (plus a skull!) and back cover of this smartly produced volume. The reader is advised to read the collection from back to front - worked for me!

Alley Cat is available to buy here

Christine's first collection, Imbalance, An Experimental Collection of Micro Stories and Poetry, is available to buy here

Christine Bruness on Associated Content

Paul Rance Interviews Husband and Wife Creatives Christine & Richard Bruness

If you want anything reviewed on AC - a book, CD, DVD, or whatever, mail it to: Paul Rance, 17 Farrow Road, Whaplode Drove, Spalding, Lincs, PE12 0TS, U.K. I did once review something with one word, calling it "Sick", because it was, but normally I'm kind... - P.R.