The Elephants Have Been Singing All Along by Ren Powell

Ren’s latest poetic collection The Elephants Have Been Singing All Along showcases different phases through which a body goes and tends to suffer and enjoy the various elements. The wonderful imaginations and gestures are much evident and have the aptitude to fascinate one’s mind. The first part of the book reveals a curious search of the body which begins with the earliest phases to the last. Ren Powell is, in my opinion, a master in the fine art of story-telling through poetry. The poems have been composed with feel, the body seems to be reflecting its inner visions and perceptions.

All of These Stories, Bodies, the opening poem, marks a remarkable feel of emotions and passion of Powell for the body. Throat “wrapped in phlegm and dandruff, whiskey & deep laughter & small”, signifies the message of the wrapped throat and the earthquakes it experienced through newscasters. “Cracker crumbs in the stubble of his beard” tend the reader to frame an auspicious moment of delight.

We start with the Skin, makes out one the start of the body with the skin and “how it becomes terrain”, how it reveals the structure of the undying bones, and the most significantly the red mouths in the stomach, seems to be ulcers, who speak quietly but make her uncomfortable in clothes. Moreover, the poet talks about the fever which comes and goes away but makes her forearm sweat.

What we are like, in its opening lines the poem charms one‘s mind with a common expression and approach but sheer contrasting from other poems. Ren has aptly stated “and the quiet between your exhalations /sounds like proof you are alone”. However, the poem symbolizes association with microorganisms and scientific components.

Ren Powell’s The Elephants Have Been Singing All Along makes the reader sense every part of the body with a deep essence of philosophy and metaphorical illusions through her writing, each prevailing, immediate, enlightening observations. I wish readers may show love to this awesome spontaneous writing of Ren Powell. Wish you good luck Ren!

                                                                                                                                     ------- Rochak Agarwal

AUTHOR BIO

Ren Powell is a writer and teaching artist. She is a native Californian – now a Norwegian citizen settled on the west coast of Norway. Ren has been a member of The Norwegian Author’s Union since 2005 and has published six full-length collections of poetry and more than two dozen books of translations with traditional publishing houses. Her sixth poetry collection The Elephants Have Been Singing All Along was published in 2017 by Wigestrand forlag. Her poetry collections have been purchased by the Norwegian Arts Council for national library distribution, and her poems have been translated and published in eight languages. -Ren is currently focusing on handbound poetry collections, and mixed media experimentation as Mad Orphan Lit. She is an associate editor and feature writer for Poemeleon, and a Poetry Reader for the peer-reviewed journal Orange Blossom Review.