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Title: An Imperfect Roundness
Author: Melody Newey Johnson
Publisher: BCC Press
Genre: Poetry
Year Published: 2020
Number of Pages: 7
Binding: Paper
ISBN: 978-1948218290
Price: 10.95
Reviewed by Andrew Hamilton for the Association of Mormon Letters
I have fallen in love with a thin little book of poems called An Imperfect Roundness. This is very unusual for me because I am not a poetry guy. In fact, in my school days, I hated the poetry assignments and I did everything that I could to avoid reading or writing poetry! But Melody Newey Johnson has made a convert out of me. An Imperfect Roundness is a marvelous book, filled with beautiful poetry that stirred and stimulated my soul and gave hope to my heart.
An Imperfect Roundness takes its name from the second poem in the book. It is a poem about birth, beginnings, and hope for the future wherein the author compares the “imperfect roundness” of her pregnant belly to the “lopsided moon” that signals the beginning of a new day. It is the perfect poem to begin this collection and sets the tone for a book that contains themes of life, struggle, loss, hope, sorrow and grief, holiness, yearning for God, grace, growth, friendship, and family. There is beauty and introspection on every page of Roundness. All of the poems you will read in it will invigorate your soul and inspire your mind. I will briefly highlight a few of my favorites.
Mormons are often uncomfortable discussing the Divine Feminine, which is ironic considering that Mormonism is one of the few Christian religions with a theology that includes a belief in a feminine deity. One of the things that I LOVE the most about this book is Johnson’s inclusion of poems about the Divine Feminine. The first of these that I want to mention, which is also one of the longest poems in the book, is called, “God is a Farmer’s Wife.” In “Farmer’s Wife,” as Johnson illustrated the behaviors of a feminine God through narrating the loving actions of a Farmer’s Wife, she provided for me the most sublime description of a mother and the most moving depiction of a deity that I have ever read. Another tender poem on the same theme that I loved bears the simple title “Heavenly Mother.” In this poem, Johnson states that she hears Heavenly Mother’s voice “best when the rain stops” in “the quiet after thunderstorms” (p. 30). I LOVED that description because I HAVE heard that voice in “the quiet after thunderstorms,” both the kind involving actual rain and the kind involving the deep emotions of the soul.
We humans have a bad habit of judging others and of forgetting that according to the New Testament Jesus taught, “Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me” (Matt 25:40). Johnson reminds her readers of the importance of seeing this divine spark in others in her poem, “Fall Down”. Here are the last two stanzas:
If there is a judgment day it is
Here now, in the moment we
See god in the unshaven man
On the curb whit a whiskey bottle
or the woman with the fishnet stockings
and bruises. We tell ourselves we
know who is chosen, who is chaff.
We are all beggars, every one. (p. 41)
I have met that woman, I have seen that man, and I NEED to be better at seeing God in them. “Fall Down” is a beautiful poem, a potent lesson, and a vital reminder of who we are supposed to be and how we are supposed to see others. I am grateful to Johnson for penning these words.
I want to highlight one more poem that deeply resonated with me. The first poem in the section of the book that is called “Hope and Sorrow” is titled, “Coming Up For Air.” The last stanza of which reads:
My son marries his love. I buy the
only strand of pearls I have ever owned.
In the middle of a desert, I feel the
Ocean against my breast, a hundred
Little suns rise in the palm of
My hand. I let go my grown child,
hold on to these drops of light. (p. 14)
While my circumstances may be different from those of the author, I felt every word of that stanza. I have lost track of how many times I have read this poem which has brought tears to my eyes every time that I have read it. As I read these words about struggling to accept the passage of time in our lives, my mind returns to the wedding of my oldest daughter and what I gained and lost that day. Also laid bare are the feelings of my soul as I contemplate my evolving relationship with my youngest, a son, who at age thirteen, no longer needs frequent hugs or tucking in at night. “Hold onto those drops…”
An Imperfect Roundness will resonate with any woman who reads it, especially those who have been mothers. But it is also a book for all people and I believe that it will encourage, uplift, and hearten all who read its pages.
An Imperfect Roundness was published by the By Common Consent (BCC) Press. The BCC Press is a non-profit publishing organization that was founded in 2017 to publish books in all Mormon related genres. The coolest thing about the BCC Press is that they specialize in publishing books by women and minority voices. An Imperfect Roundness is one of five books by six authors published by them so far this year. Of those six authors, five are women. All of the BCC Press books that I have read have been amazing. I highly encourage lovers of poetry and women’s literature to read and share An Imperfect Roundness and other BCC books.