Reviewed By Sarah Stuart
for Readers’ Favorite. Rating: 5-star
There is a lot to enjoy in Scharlie Martin’s
collection of poems entitled Brandy Apple Days n’ Dandelions. The aspect that
intrigued me most was the differences. There I would be reading a poem that
features a prosaic airport scene, and I would find myself plunged into water.
Contrast is promised, and Brandy Apple Days n’ Dandelions delivers in spades,
dandelions being the downside, the weeds growing in the sea of love. Or maybe I
should quote from Dandelions: “Because that’s what man made street corners for
– And – God – Girls”. Or perhaps just enjoy the pencil sketches scattered here
and there and muse that Janie matters. She pops up in Unravelling, Harvest, and
In the Dark, but the book is dedicated to Janie, so why not?
Poetry lovers, people in love, or who have loved and lost will all find a
treasure trove in Brandy Apple Days n’ Dandelions. Every reader will find
favorites, but there are lines in some poems I simply cannot resist such as Not
Knowing, “I don’t particularly care where snow comes from” or Carnival Girls,
“Love, like carnival girls, is sometimes a gypsy guest camping in your heart”.
Water is a constant theme, as in Water and Wallpaper Blues but Scharlie Martin
has the guile, and the talent, to interrupt. Tease does tease, Serengeti Plains
talks of elephants, and Revelation is rooted in myths, albeit sea-going. Read
on and you will find intensely sensual Enigma and sexy Salsa. Buy and enjoy
Scharlie Martin's Brandy Apple Days n’ Dandelions; it is irresistible.