REVIEW: Reflections Of A Mississippi Magnolia (Patricia Neely-Dorsey)

[Apex Reviews]

Reflections Of A Mississippi Magnolia
Patricia Neely-Dorsey
ISBN: 9780979629426
GrantHouse Publishers
Reviewed By Wendy Paulson

Official Apex Reviews Rating:


"Diamonds are nice,
And so are pearls;
But, there's nothing on earth,
Like a Mississippi girl."

This quote, which actually closes Patricia Neely-Dorsey's debut collection of poetry, sums it – and her – up best. Featured throughout the pages of Reflections Of A Mississippi Magnolia are numerous poetic pieces addressing the colorful scope of Southern living, but all in a captivating, sentimental tone sure to evoke the same nostalgic wistfulness in the reader, perhaps no better than in this passage from the collection's very first piece, "Southern Life":

"There's ice cold tea that's syrupy sweet,
And cool green grass beneath your feet;
Catfish nipping in the lake,
And fresh young boys on the make.
You'll see all these things
And much, much more,
In a way of life that I adore."

Neely-Dorsey also muses on the incomparable beauty of Southern nature in this passage from "Mississippi Morning":

"There is a sense of wonderment
At how all things look so new;
The flowers glow with freshness,
From the past night's dew.
The beauty all around you,
Would take away your breath;
You'd feel you'd like to soak it in
Until there's nothing left."

And in this passage from "Summer Night":

"Everything is warm and still
A sense of calm that one can feel
The moon shines bright over yonder hill
Can all this loveliness be real?"

Reflections extends its reminiscent strains to such expanded realms as Southern education in "One Room School" and the political process in "Right to Vote," but its most salient power is drawn ostensibly in the personal affirmations made by Neely-Dorsey herself. Consider, for example, this passage from "Inside Me":

"A sophisticated lady of the day,
And a sultry lady of the evening,
There's a church goer and a party thrower,
There's somebody's mother, daughter, sister,
Wife, lover and friend;
There's all of that
Inside me.
Can you see it?"

And this passage from "Happy (With The Nappy):

"Sometimes, the comb gets stuck.
But, when my man runs his fingers
Through my hair,
It feels like silk.
So………….
I'm happy with the nappy."

And, most obviously, in this passage from "Mississippi Magnolia":

"It's who I am,
It's what I like,
It's everything to me;
A Mississippi Magnolia girl
Is all I'll ever be."

In Reflections Of A Mississippi Magnolia, Patricia Neely-Dorsey does a commendable job of showing the reader the true face of the incomparable South – new and old – and, in so doing, makes it quite enticing to take an actual trip there one day to see more for oneself. A moving and inspiring collection.

[Arethia Hornsby Rinfrow]

Love the way you write.