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Autumn Leaves
by Rosalie Carey
(Number 13 in the mini series)

ROSALIE CAREY writes in a variety of genre. Her published work includes two non-fiction books on theatre, (A Theatre in the House – the Carey’s Globe  reached the Listener top ten);  a text book on speech, a humorous fund-raiser for the cancer society, four books of poetry, as well as about twelve plays produced on stage and one on radio. Now in her mid-eighties she continues to teach oral communication and drama, travels around the country giving talks and readings, arranges fund-raising events, and acts professionally on stage and screen.

In her spare time she likes to potter in her garden, read, sew, paint, sing, and  share meals with good conversationalists.

As well as several local poetry groups, she belongs to the New Zealand Poetry Society and is a an honorary life member of both the Society of Authors Northland Branch and the Playwrights Association of New Zealand.

Formerly married to the late Patric Carey she has a visual artist son, and a musician daughter, both of whom work in the teaching profession. The three grandchildrn also appear to be destined for a life in the creative field.

Reviews

Rosalie Carey’s biographical note in this collection of her poems Autumn Leaves, No. 13 in the Earl of Seacliff Art Workshop mini series, tells us, “Her published work includes two non-fiction books on theatre, (A Theatre in the House – the Carey’s Globe) reached the Listener top ten, a text book on speech, a humorous fundraiser for the cancer society, four books of poetry, as well as about twelve plays produced on stage and one on radio.”  Here, then we have a poet very familiar with words.
   Carey’s poems are easy to relate to with their memories of a visit to France, historical figures, dreams, the countryside, lunch with a friend and film.  Her impressions are captured in a language unsentimental, blunt and direct.
   From the first poem called “A Poem”, we know that we are reading a poet in love with words and their meaning, not only for adults but also for children: “What is a poem Daddy? / Everyone has their own idea. / What is your idea Daddy? / Mine? Imaginative thoughts expressed / in the best possible words.” 
   Carey deals with the subject of France in two poems: “The Eiffel Tower” and “Musee D’orsay”, with understatement, suggestion and subtlety – not drama and hysteria.  The poems build by a series of impressions.  In “The Eiffel Tower”, the poet invites us to go with her on a visit to the Eiffel Tower; and gives us her impressions of the view from the top:

I look through the haze to Notre Dame
Les Invalides and Sacre Cour
Napoleon’s Triumphant Arch
then I started to feel ‘who cares!’

In “Musee D’orsay” she captures the atmosphere of the street outside with her little picture of the hurdy-gurdy man: “A little man with a large nose / benevolent eyes / and a fine tenor voice”, and the hours she spent looking at the Impressionist paintings:
“We send an hour or two / looking at fine paintings / (the great impressionists;) / out here is a picture / of a happy man.”
   Autumn Leaves is rich with descriptions: of the Infanta of Spain (“Catalina”), the ice-man (“Iceman”) and the history of the colour purple (“Purple”).  Although Carey tends on the side of minimalism with these short poems, she never falls prey to the cynical, and she paints a charming picture of the Infanta dreaming of Camelot whilst becoming the wife of Harry: “She lied / convinced herself / convinced the court / that she was still a virgin.”
   “You” is a delightful short poem of two four-line stanzas detailing the joy of love:

I’ll fill me with the feel of you
before I take my leave of you
my eyes will keep the view of you
and wish that there were two of you

“Dream” finds the poet imagining herself in her coffin and she asks the question:


Will I chance to dream and if I do
could it be my dream of last night
of the beautiful youth I spurned long ago
who came to my bed and I didn’t say no
but welcomed him in pure delight
with music and lights turned low?

A lesser poet may have been tempted to use emotive language and dramatic effect to describe such a situation.  Carey shows remarkable restraint – and the poem is more powerful for it.
   “Sleeping Dogs”, “Spilt Milk” and “Remorse” are more domestic poems: the first describing old dogs sleeping.  A strong, resilient female voice shapes the next two poems.  They describe babies: a crying baby reminds her of “the women of Africa / who have no milk to spill”, whilst “Remorse” is an all too true picture of the child abuse happening so often around us today: “Not long before she died / the mother woke from sleep / I smacked – I smacked / my child.”
   Carey’s poems give a delicious, if brief, feeling of being intensely alive.  The poems are vital, fast, celebratory.  Her poetry teems with images – often seemingly freely associated, leaping from one poem to another.  You can imagine watching “the lumbering gait” of  “lizard feet, ill fitting skin / under the onerous weight / of his out-size shell” – the animal in “Odd Man Out”,  or trying to walk tall “when your body / your horizons / bank account / your list of friends / may all be shrinking” (“Walking Tall”).
   “Saving Private Ryan” is a poem about the film and it in Carey demonstrates a stark straightforward minimalism that seems perfectly correct in the context of the film’s subject:

We were right there
in the midst of it
deafening noise
on all sides
aircraft roar
ackety-ack
of anti-aircraft

 bombs

Then there’s the contrast of dreamy optimism of “Vale”, the last poem in the collection: “I’ll keep the good times /if you don’t mind / give them an airing / from time to time / though you and I / may never meet again.”
   It is easy to recommend this small book.  Diverse in their range of reference, so often arresting in their statements and wordplay, the poems are also carefully constructed.  Carey uses the short line and variable stanzaic forms with dexterity.  The result is a poetry that is conceived with sharp attention to detail, joy in the possibilities of language, and a devotee’s self-consciousness about the seriousness and exhilaration of words.

Reviewed by Patricia Prime, Takahe

TITLE               Autumn Leaves
AUTHOR         Rosalie Carey
PUBLISHED    2007
CATEGORY    Poetry. Number 13 in the ESAW mini series.
FORMAT         Paperback
EXTENT           A6, 24 pages
ISBN                1-86942-085-3
PRICE              NZ  $5.00

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