Ashbourn

Donalee Moulton-Barrett was a writer and editor in Halifax.

Ashbourn is a small town in East Suffolk, and John Reibetanz is the poet who wants to bring to life the words, the deeds, and the subtleties of its people.

People like Iris Holden, the district nurse, and the pampered Melba Sheppard, whom we see reminiscing in her garden. While their memories are in many ways like night and day, they reflect a certain acceptance of life as itis — and as itwas.

Here and wove daisy chains to make me laugh while

The night lasted and made his round face rosy

As a big harvest moon. Do people still weave

What is so forceful about these poems is their believability, which of course, is central to the collection’s success. Reibetanz wants us to believe inAshbourn — he used local records and transcribed oral histories to create authenticity.

And yet the collection fails. Ironically, itfails because there are poems like “Iris Holden” and “Melba Sheppard” to show readers what Reibetanz can accomplish. But there is much cliché, especially in the endings, and although the voices of the speakers often sound sincere, the line breaks are awkward and disrupt the poems’ natural flow.

Still, this is only John Reibetanz’s first published collection of poetry and there will, we hope, be more to come. Perhaps in the next book Reibetanz will weave even more daisy chains for his readers.