ShortBookandScribes #BookReview – Moments by Daphne Denley @DaphneDenley @CrumpsBarn #Poetry
Something a little different for me today. I’m reviewing this collection of poetry – Moments by Daphne Denley. My thanks to Crumps Barn Studio for sending me a copy of the book for review purposes.
Like many of us, Daphne Denley is a fully signed-up apprentice of mid-life mayhem. She is a mother trying to adjust to her daughter’s grown up tastes. And she is a loving wife who has had her life turned upside down by her husband’s devastating diagnosis.
This collection of poems is an autobiography in verse. In turns heartfelt, familiar and beautifully observed, Daphne explores each of life’s Moments – and in the process shows us how, even in the worst of times, hope can return in the end.
‘Moments’ is a stunning debut.
I don’t often review poetry but this slim volume appealed to me, particularly once I found out the poems rhymed. I don’t know why but somehow poems make more sense to me if they do. It’s pitched as an autobiography in verse and when you look at it like that, rather than a random mixture, it really works as a collection.
Daphne Denley wrote the poems after her husband became very ill but they’re not all about her own situation, some are about subjects that she feels are hard to broach.
I thought the first poem, Sweet Dreams, was gorgeous. It’s about a mother watching her child sleeping. Also lovely was Precious Time which brought a lump to my throat. Time is so very precious and yet we rarely appreciate how much.
Many of the poems are short although some go over a page. They all have meaning and they are full of emotion and hopefulness.
Two that had particular relevance to me were Morning Routine and New Lease of Life. The former made me smile as the mum tries to chivvy along her offspring only to then delay them herself by checking doors and windows. Very me! The latter talks of making efforts to be more fit, something I really must try and do.
All in all, Moments is a sweet mixture of poems about everyday life and its stresses and strains, and also deeper ones about feelings. I enjoyed it and found it moving at times.
Daphne Denley is a poet and songwriter. This is her first published collection of poetry. She lives on the edge of Rodborough Common with her husband and daughter.
