As moving as it is earnest.
Reduction Fired is a tight collection of succinct poetry divided across all four seasons. Each breathtaking season has its own flavor and feel. Winter is lyrical and delicate. Spring tells an intensely emotional story. Summer is terse and the jarring movement packs a punch. Autumn is evocative and staggeringly beautiful in its imagery. The allure of nature and its effortless rhythm provide the vibrant outline, but the themes of life, love, and loss are what color the pages. The unique construction and purposeful visual layout as the poems progress contributes to the deliberate feel of the collection.
The title, Reduction Fired, is germane to the ideas and themes within. There is no excess nor waste, but instead a deep connection to the natural world. For those of us less inclined, a few informative footnotes provide background on more specific descriptions to help readers set the scene. Camara time and again makes the art of creating poetry seem effortless. One passage stuck with me. “The tree’s roots pulled up – all their knots and earth exposed – its leaves fall, to clothe.” The words are plain and unadorned, but the feelings they summon are visceral and untamed. The invisible line connecting nature and humanity, inevitability and weakness, is bound seamlessly together, forming a cohesive body of poetry. Made for those who appreciate the intricacies of life and for any whose heart has an aching need, Reduction Fired by Jennifer Yeates Camara is as moving as it is earnest.
