[REVIEW] Petrarchan, by Kristina Marie Darling

~by C.L. Bledsoe

72 pgs./$16

Darling has produced a collection of footnotes, commentaries, and poem fragments inspired by the work of Francesco Petrarcha, a poet who was known for writing emotional but spare poems. Darling has deconstructed his work to the barest slivers of emotional resonance and then shared her reactions. This is a book about a book, a direct response. But in producing these reactions, Darling is also showing us something of herself. Her reactions don’t exist in a vacuum; they’re influenced by elements of her life, so we also see a bit of Darling behind the curtains.

The book opens with a quote from Petrarcha, “And tears are heard within the harp I touch.” Harps are considered one of the more emotive instruments, and Patrarcha’s personification of the instrument implies that he shares his own sadness or loss through the harp he touches, or possibly plays; his emotion is shared through his art. “Harp” also sounds a lot like “heart” which implies that Petrarcha produces sadness in his audience, that their loss echoes his own, which connects him and his audience. This is apropos since Darling is, herself, mirroring Petrarcha’s tears, at times, through her own “harp.”

The first section is “Guide to the Holy Land.” Consider the layout of the pages: the top half is blank, ostensibly representing Petrarcha’s word. The bottom half contains footnotes that hint at the missing text. From these notes, we derive some meaning. Images imply symbols; the first footnote, “A marble staircase,” for example, “which he had cordoned off with a white ribbon” perhaps implies a magisterial setting or something cold and elegant. Later, in footnote 3, Darling quotes, “’Only then did I realize that excavation can be an unforgiving task.’” She continues with this idea, hinting at her own excavation of Petrarcha’s meaning and also our excavation of her intent, but hinting that complete meaning is “cordoned off” and unattainable.

Section II is “My Secret Book.” Again, the staircase image, separated. Things hidden. Secrets. The second footnote states, “She described their exchange as a ‘staircase burning in a locked house,’ When asked, she could list each of the possessions she had lost in the fire.” The identity of “she” isn’t clear. The evocative image of the staircase, which could be revelatory as it leads up to something, is obscured by its burning. The situation implies inescapability as well. The list of lost possessions is also evocative; they are never listed, but they seem pertinent because of “her” ability to list them. Something has been lost and one can’t help but feel that this cordoned off marble staircase, now burnt, represents some aspect of a relationship. The third footnote described a locked armoire in which every compartment is empty. Mystery, again. Lack of connection.

Section III is “Songbook.” Here, the stark imagery of stone and fire is softened with music. The second footnote states, “She described their encounter as ‘faint music’ followed by ‘a collapse.’ The golden clasp from her bracelet still glittering beneath a marble staircase.” This is a life-changing encounter, one assumes, because of the ‘collapse.’ The bracelet clasp glitters beneath the staircase, but there seems to be a distance between “her” and the staircase, now. Perhaps she’s climbed it, or is simply away from it. The conceit of quoting some un-credited source adds a level of realism to the notes while tantalizing the reader with further mystery.

Section IV is “On the Solitary Life.” This section contains references to solitude, emptiness, a “house by the sea” which recurs and, a note explains, refers to “her conscious mind” as revealed by psychoanalysis. An imagined lover, the note continues, is the source of discontent and torment. This could easily refer to this “she” character we’ve been getting to know and/or to Darling, herself.

Section V is “Triumph” and further populates the imagery of a life. “She” and her “beloved” argue; they collect objects. Their relationship, which may be totally made up, grows.

Section VI is “Remedies for Fortune” which opens with a callback to the broken clasp, which “beloved” has fixed. “She” responds with foreboding to this, though. There’s more soft music. The third note states, “’Ever since, I had longed for a memento, some tangible record of his affection. But the chain left the faint marks on my delicate skin.’” This is, apparently, a quote from “she.” The chain, which is gold, is too difficult to bear. Likewise, wealth. As the notes progress, “she” apparently destroys the chain. Since it was a gift from her “beloved,” this implies the destruction of something between them, as well. This gives us an arc of a relationship, ending badly.

Darling includes appendices, A., “Correspondence,” and B., “Misc. Fragments.” These are composed of pages that resemble something like a redacted page of some top secret file (though without the black spots). Words and phrases appear scattered across the page, but they connect. They are composed of found text from Petrarcha’s sonnets, according to the “Notes on the Text” at the end.

Putting all of this together, it’s difficult to arrive at clear meaning, which is, of course, part of Darling’s point. We have our own interpretations, but because there are so many gaps, much must be filled in with our own preconceptions and leanings. Darling’s collection is, at heart, a mystery, since the reader must work towards meaning from these scant clues, but it’s also a beautiful elegy about what it is to be human. All that we can ever “see” of another person are, truly, scraps like these, and yet we try to draw meaning and make connections. All we can see of a writer is what we can glimpse through her/his writing. But there are clues that we can connect. There is hope for a connection. And there is beauty, as evidenced by Darling’s elegant, refined language.

***
CL Bledsoe is the author of ten books, most recently the poetry collection Riceland. He’s been nominated for the Pushcart Prize 8 times, had 2 stories selected as Notable Stories by Story South’s Million Writers Award and 2 others nominated, and has been nominated for Best of the Net twice. He blogs at Murder Your Darlings, http://clbledsoe.blogspot.com.