McAllister's Mates Three
An ongoing series of reviews of some of the wonderful articles, poems, and stories I’ve discovered on Substack and more importantly the beautiful souls behind the works.
Please take a few moments to read the works of these authors and if you find their work as life-affirming and life changing as I do, then please let them know. We need to support and cherish these voices.
You can meet some of my other friends in McAllister’s Mates Part One https://www.graememcallister.com/p/mcallisters-mates-one
And Part Two
https://www.graememcallister.com/p/mcallisters-mates-two
Misty Violet is an appropriate name for a writer skilled in weaving juxtaposing imagery and concepts. Ethereal, earthbound. Subtle, vibrant. Eerie, tactile.
Even the title of Worldbuilding is something of a sly contradiction, raising ideas of telephone directory sized fantasy novels with 100 pages of currency exchange rates, pronunciation guides, and family trees for make believe kingdoms (which I'm a sucker for by the way). The world building here is succinct, ambiguous and fantastical in the truest sense. We are presented with a series of vividly described images through gently cadencing verses.
The poem is written as a Ghazal, a very interesting form where the last sentence in each couplet must contain the same last word. Great poets like Misty use innovative forms like this to display the unique strengths and versatility of poetry as an art form. The dual meanings of the word ‘lie’ are explored in a series of interlinked and fascinating images that explore action and passivity, and how deceit can weave through both.
My favourite verse is this one, which skillfully plays on the dual meaning of the word lies in a haunting and arresting image;
“The moonlight on the lake picks out white stones —
trapper bones — bouncing on the waves.
As long as the tide comes and goes, they’ll never lie.”
Misty Violet makes language her plaything to surprise, reward, and even unbalance the reader. She uses her skill to alert the diligent reader to the games of context, association, and symbolic baggage played by other, less benign parties, an increasingly vital concern in our media saturated age. Her portfolio contains many other skillfully crafted and intriguing poems. I urge you to explore it.
This is a fantastic short story that really stayed with me and was a factor (with many others) in my decision to leave Facebook.
The protagonist is intriguing - harsh, impatient, dismissive. Yet he owns his shortcomings and refuses to hide them or apologise for them. Yet we join him at the moment of death where one regret overwhelms him.
To avoid spoilers, I'll avoid too many details but the piece takes us on a journey of conscience and reflection seen through a fantasy landscape. The fantasy elements act as dressing and a lens to view the personal drama through, as opposed to overwhelming the human elements (take note Marvel screenwriters). Gods, monsters and spirit animals are certainly vividly described but they know to stay in their lane as metaphors and symbols.
The story’s ending is intriguing and leaves us with interesting questions, even if we take the story literally - we’re left wondering about the rules and mechanics of the “other place” with just enough blanks to project our own personality on (David Lynch is smiling somewhere above us).
What has all this got to do with leaving Facebook? Simple. I knew I could scroll for a hundred years and never find a post with this level of quality (one that substack Itself suggested). Are there good, diligent, and talented writers on Facebook? Bound to be. Will they ever be heard beyond the din of selfies, scams, ai bots, political memes and adverts? It gets less and less likely. Value this place. Value this writer.
Will Price’s poem is both raw and eloquent, while the piece chronicles scenes from classical mythology, and is lovingly rendered in an exact, impressive, and meticulous structure, the imagery is fierce and primal. We tend to think of the ancient Greeks as sandal wearing cosmopolitans gently musing on the meaning of the universe - we amplify this tendency especially when looking at their myths and legends.
Not so here - Will presents the ancients in all their power and fury. Cupid is restored to a spirit of madness and chaos, no longer the giggling cherub, here he is once again a very dangerous spirit - a spark to Ares’ oil, often a catalyst of his most terrible works.
Helen of Troy is treated with great dignity and sympathy in the writing, an unwilling victim and a scapegoat of madness (and the mad men who enjoy the chaos).”Marigolds set ablaze” - a very apt metaphor for innocence fed to rage for the empty reward of ruling the ashes and defeating “them”.
The final verse is a reassuring claim for the victory of reason (to a certain degree at least). Swords are put aside for pens, war chants for poetry, and Helen the spirit of purity and innocence takes her throne in our hearts.
Will also provides a glossary of terms for those unfamiliar with some of the lesser known figures and place names. I'm something of an armchair mythology buff myself, but I did still learn a thing or two. It's also nice to have these finer points to hand without having to go and research them.
A wonderfully fresh take on an ancient myth but still very true to the story.
Confession is a delicate, beautiful poem. It has an elegance and economy of words, with a few beautifully elaborate lines that hit all the harder for their unexpectedness. Much like the emotions of grief, betrayal, and longing this poem gently moves through your mind and then HITS. “Tears are the nectar that shines our eyes with life.” This is such a beautiful sentiment and shows a rich maturity. The object of the author’s desire, and perhaps regret is still treated with reverence and gratitude. A line has been crossed and this relationship seems past the point of repair, but such experiences add to the rich tapestry of life, and help us grow as a person. This is a heart that rises above petty recriminations or a desire to somehow even the score.
Even though it causes the protagonist deep pain to even think of the other, to the point of praying for forgetfulness - there is acknowledgement of their pain, that feelings run just as deeply on the other side of the fence. The word Us replaces I in a subtle move to reach out and unite again on some level in the spirit of shared loss, even if things can never be as they were before.
The central truth of the poem is perhaps where the piece shines brightest, and burns fiercest.
“The arrows that have pierced us
and taught us tears, cannot be saved for later use.”
The imagery is wonderful - like arrows tears do indeed come with irresistible speed and sharpness. We cannot hide from our emotions, they inevitably pierce our walls of distraction and denial and come all the harder for it. All we can do is surrender to the moments of pain and anguish, and hope that we too can rise above and reach some point of maturity where we can reach out and ask “And you?”
This author has many such moving gems and I urge you to enjoy their portfolio.
I hope you enjoy these beautiful works as much as I enjoyed reading them and writing about them.
You can meet some of my other friends in McAllister’s Mates Part One https://www.graememcallister.com/p/mcallisters-mates-one
And Part Two
https://www.graememcallister.com/p/mcallisters-mates-two
Substack has proven to be a treasure trove and I already have a few more gifted writers lined up for my next review newsletter.
Thank you Graeme for this incredibly kind compliment. I was feeling a little low today, but this revived my spirits. Your support is truly appreciated.
Thank you for your generous praise, Graeme. I think you are the only person who liked the footnotes. Lol - maybe I just won't be as heavy handed next time.