Member Article

Review of Virtues - Truth, Integrity and Finesse By Paul White

Rita Aroloye (Nee Okpugie) has released a new anthology of poems about truth, integrity and finesse. Here, Paul White, poetry lover and marketing entrepreneur, reviews the collection:

“A new name to me, I was interested to see what Rita Aroloye’s poetry style was and whether she is a talent to add to my book collection.

“Whilst the cover image didn’t really tell me a lot, I was fascinated by the truth, integrity and finesse perspectives. Even more so when on perusing the contents list I realised the book was split into 4. The three aforementioned perspectives and ‘Closing’.

“The poet opens by explaining that she believes that truth, integrity and finesse are the three virtues that make the foundation of a good poem. Personally I have thought it was insight, language and feeling, so I was intrigued to read on.

“Starting with the truth section, I ploughed into writings that claimed to remind us how important it is to be honest and how difficult it can sometimes to be tell the truth.

“The use of words jumped out at me. Reality, whisper, mystery, secrets and home for example all leapt off the pages of the first three poems. My favourite in this section is ‘Revealed’ which I kept returning to for its simplistic beauty. I found the next few poems paled into insignificance following that one, until ‘I Am’. The shorter poems definitely carry more punch for me by this poet.

“Moving onto integrity, which the author claims the poems in this section explores why it is important to have the virtue in your personality. ‘Bird’ is the strongest poem in this section. It’s a pretty ditty in a powerful way.

“I would have liked the imagery in this section to be fresher – they felt a little dated compared to the modernism in the words and of poor reproductive quality.

“And now for finesse, which I have to admit before I started reading flummoxed me a bit. I discovered it the poet uses it to explore the idea of doing something with grace and whether perfection is always needed. Again the shorter poems spoke to me loudly. I loved ‘Tried’ and ‘Soul and Bones’. “Rita says of her collection: “I hope Virtues encourages you to think about these core values in your own life, and how you can incorporate them into your daily interactions with others. This anthology is dedicated to those who strive to be their best selves—and inspire others along the way.” Personally, I’d love to be someone who inspires others, but can poetry really have that affect. Having read this I think it can. Why not get a copy yourself and see what you think?”

Virtues is available to buy from Amazon.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Anna Toms .