Review of Unsung Offerings by Marianne Brems

Unsung Offerings

By Marianne Brems

Release Date: September 3,  2021 

Review by Thomas Page 

Nature is an integral part of art. It has a vivacity that will remain despite all of the factors that seek to destroy it. We are all a part of Nature and it is a part of us. Marianne Brems’ Unsung Offerings is a celebration of its resiliency and its power it has over us.

Brems’ poetry is part of a storied tradition of the Nature Poem in the English language. It is one of those subjects that is universal in its appeal to readers. Brems continues this tradition through her contemporary lyrical style. This can be best seen in “The Ants with their Burdens” which combines the classical sensibilities of poetry with the contemporary lyricism of her diction. Breems is also aware of this tradition’s flaws of overhyping and oversimplifying the role of Nature in our lives so she expresses a sense of realism in her poems such as in “Living with Loathing.”

The voice in this collection can be compared to the work of Elizabeth Bishop or Louise Gluck. Brems’ poetic voice takes the reader through a reflection about their feelings about Nature. This thematic journey is capped off by the great final poem “Somewhere a Bluebird Trills” which ties everything neatly together. Other standout poems in the collection include the title poem “Unsung Offerings” and “The Need for Salt.” The poems “Seven Seconds,” “A Treelike Shape,” “Their Ritual,” and “All in a Line” have appeared in Academy of Heart and Mind between 2019 and 2020.

Readers looking for a contemporary collection with a classic feel should check out Marianne Brems’ Unsung Offerings. 

Brems’ Unsung Offerings  was released by Finishing Line Press on September 3, 2021. It can be found at most major retailers.

Marianne Brems is a writer of textbooks and poetry. Finishing Line Press released her chapbook Sliver of Change in 2020. Her poems have appeared in literary journals including The Pangolin Review, La Scrittrice, The Sunlight Press, and The Tiny Seed Literary Journal. She lives in Northern California. Website: www.mariannebrems.com.

Thomas Page is Editor-in-Chief of Academy of the Heart and Mind. He is also an MFA student in the poetry track at the University of South Florida and has earned a BA and an MA from the Catholic University of America.