Strange Diary Days by Author Blake Edwards
Reviewed by Realistic Poetry International
“On strange diary days, when lakes turn over black, dawning frost on broadened shoulder, and love hides in between looks, truths locked within to smolder, and these truths unshared on broken wings bring hopes again to molder, that’s how you’ll know a strange diary day’s been pondered over. -from “Strange Diary Days”
Blake Edwards’ Strange Diary Days is a fascinating collection. Classical and imaginative, the poems drift through their subject like the sleeping eye drifts between faces and memories seen in a dream. Strange Diary Days is endlessly creative in a very rare way. Steeped in the murky pool where the mind meets reality, Edwards’ collection siphons the magic and mystery of nature into prose.
These poems have a strangely “twilight” quality, normal things taking on an ethereal appearance that they have in neither the night nor day. This is evident in the poems “The One Wraith”, which has a violent and primordial feel that reminded me of Lovecraft, and “Coyote”, which gives an almost fairytale beastliness to the animal it’s written about.
“[…] Coyote retreats, with sweaty tongue-drips – vital juices, waiting for dusky death’s release, praying for a pregnant moon.” -from “Coyote”
This collection, as its name suggests, often talks about the nature of dreams, and how little one can really know about them, despite how important they often are to feeding a writer’s work. The title poem and “Dreams” capture this thought well, as does the darker “Insomniac”. “Insomniac” was one of my personal favourites, impish and sinister in its prose, as if it’s being spoken like a curse.
Edwards’ style in Strange Diary Days carries echoes of many classic poets, such as Robert Frost and Shakespeare, and there is a brief homage to such poets in “Dreams”. The writing is skillful and pretty without being too obscure. The prose can shift between romantic , wistful and nightmarish as easily as the sun sets. There is a comfortable flow between poems, and that’s always nice for the reader.
Strange Diary Days is a very brief collection, under fifty pages, and while it does feel short, the book doesn’t feel like it’s cut short before it begins – a common issue with any shorter reads. The length and design feel thought-out and measured.
I would ultimately recommend Blake Edwards’ collection with five-of-five stars. It’s expertly written, with a modernized flair similar to that of the classics. Strange Diary Days has a little for everyone, with its dichotomy of dark and light, and is an inventive book of poetry.
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