Background Music

Melanie Marttila is a Sudbury-based freelance writer and writing
consultant.

Background Music, Pat Jasper’s third collection of poetry, is a
heartfelt journey into the world of memory. Each poem is a slice of
life, vividly drawn, with a wonderful sense of time and place. Memory is
explored in all its imperfection. Jasper sometimes reflects on how
experience and revelation impact on her understanding of the past and
present, particularly with respect to her sister’s disclosure of
childhood abuse. At other times, she deftly leaves the reader to
struggle with the “truth” of her poetic memory. We all remember the
past through the filter of our own reality. Jasper’s poetry asks us to
examine the inconsistencies of her memories, and often induces us to
reflect quietly on the nature of our own remembered truth.

Background Music is also a symphony of word tones. Jasper does not
necessarily include the harmonies with the melody of her poetry, but the
chord is struck, and heard nonetheless, in the heart and mind of the
reader. Musical metaphor unites the collection, surfacing just often
enough to remind the reader that Jasper’s lyrical poetry is a song not
only of pain and sadness, but also of healing, understanding, and love.
Occasionally, after powerful revelations, some of the less demanding
poems seem trite, but the emotional pull remains strong throughout. The
chord of one strong poem sustains us through to the next with a harmony
that rings true. Jasper’s main accomplishment with this collection is
to remind us that the past is not fact, but fiction, created by the
vagaries of memory. We can only do our level best to revise our stories
in the light of the remembered input of others. The ultimate truth can
be found in the “background music.”