Poetry Book Review: The Joy of Their Holiness by Peggy Turnbull
Polka Morning Surprise hints at Plath's poems Daddy and Morning Song. Who can say why one poet is suicidal, but another finds joy everywhere?
Peggy Turnbull writes with joy, verve and spirit. Like many experienced poets, her work is technically superb and readers will enjoy her carefully crafted poems. What sets Turnbull's work apart is her exuberant engagement with life and her specific focus on nature, family, and prayer. In many ways she celebrates the small miracles of everyday living: an encounter with a coyote that includes a prayer for its survival, safe from pellets, poisons, and traps.
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Despite her concern for wild creatures, both meek and wild, Turnbull is never saccharine. She is a clear-eyed realist who realizes: "For a trace of time we are earth's/acolytes, tending to tomatos, savoring pears." This emphasis on spiritual action rather than meditative contemplation is central to her lived spirituality and the vigor of her writing.
I don't have time to meditate
A child needs me
I stir the pan
certain he will love
whatever I find good.
My favorite poem is Polka Morning Surprise which hints at Plath's poems Daddy and Morning Song. Who can say why one poet is suicidal, but another finds joy everywhere? Speaking of her father's tuba:
Out of its mouth
came sounds
round as bubbles
that danced
into my attic room
Turnbull is the answer for readers who have had enough of angst and are ready to savor the small joys of kindness, the mysterious ways of animals, and the pleasures of family. Her spirituality brings wonder and fervent awe to her poetry. She writes of singing at a funeral service:
I sing
with spirit. We all do as if we think
our voices
can pierce the membrane between
the living and the dead.
We sing loudly
as if there is no doubt.
Turnbull's writing reflects a deep faith in the abiding joys of daily life. This emotional conviction allows her to present small everyday miracles as meaningful experience. Her gift to us is to share that vision and emotion through her writing, allowing us to also claim ownership of this miraculous existence called life.