Book Review: Unearth [The Flowers] by Thea Matthews
Thea Matthews plants a garden on every page of Unearth [The Flowers] (Red Light Lit Press, 2020). This collection is a journey of growth and resilience through the composition of two sections, “Perennial” and “Annual.” These reflect the concept of recurrence, the uncovering and unpacking of personal and generational traumas and their effects. These images are rooted throughout, such as the image of raised scar tissue.
Railroad tracks built by torn hands/land remind us/ your ancestors conjured you / believe them through their howling/ laments keloid / backs blood stained rags they slept…
Other themes throughout include self-awareness, responsibility, and accountability in a political and societal sense.
Infiltration / human sex trafficking / counter-intelligence / high surveillance / programs established / by dubious politicians / children nameless / blazing temples / covered-up assassinations…
This collection is a call to action, a meditation, as well as a testimony. Matthews nurtures the reader through the traverses of the speaker, through meditative moments and philosophical approaches.
Never doubt your propensity to / radiate boundless light. When you / see a moth Spirit is near you. / Stand tall. / Illuminate your decipherment of what is true: / You are worthy of love…
The flower of each poem acts as a mode of transportation, as a poem within itself, but is a concept larger than a simple metaphor. To try to distinguish humans from other living entities such as plants, is missing the point.
I elongate my neck bridging the gap between/ heaven and earth the path/ between me and my kin …
On Page 72, Matthews writes, “She is within me as I ascend / up the meandering /rivers of my legs / I am Morning Glory.” Despite the heaviness of subjects such as abuse, there is lightness sewn through the text, that provokes a sense of healing.
Unearth / faulty roots / flowers dead / watch new seeds grow / feel Spirit and blood / band a double helix / Your medicine / your healing / your recovery / lives within you.
These elements are included to combat the haunting of abuse, grief, and sudden loss, as one often has to while living with trauma.
…My petals radiate / a vibrancy still un- / touched prepare! I wail pre- / pare to survive more than / uncontrollable hands
Each poem is given a title of two classifications: plant name and scientific name. When I first began reading, I found myself wanting to research them poem by poem, not realizing there was a glossary in the back of the book, providing characteristics for each flower. As I started to read, I realized how unnatural it felt to interrupt the flow with a Google search — that wasn’t how it was supposed to be read. This categorization adds to the depth of each poem, but the reader is not lost without them, as Matthews incorporates plenty within the text. This element of the book is an important one, as it is representative of the layers of context within this collection, and how there is always more to be revealed if you keep digging. Once I finished reading, I felt as though there was more that could be uncovered, ready to dive in again — as one often does with a complex piece of work, especially one that lingers with you — in context and content.
Thea Matthews writes intricate vignettes within her poetry that intertwine like vines. There is vulnerability and strength throughout.
…I mastered the art of shattering. / To mourn the existence of waiting / in line to die / is to tolerate my own breath / stomach the laments / face life calmly / and slowly blossom to a kettle boiling.
She loosens the dirt and pulls the weeds, welcoming the reader to “Inhale the scent of [her] evergreen” (pg 30). In Unearth [The Flowers], Matthews creates a bed in the earth and fills it. She waters it and lets the flora flourish.
To taste butter on tongue / rub honey between fingers
