Review by Elizabeth Brown
The Fiction of Stillness is Robyn Hunt’s second collection of poems. Her first collection, The Shape of Caught Water, was published by Red Mountain Press in 2013, winning the New Mexico Press Women’s Association Award in 2014. Additionally, Ms. Hunt has co-written a one-act play with Evangeline Brown which was produced by Theaterwork in Santa Fe, as well as published numerous poems in literary journals.
This collection details all aspects of a cancer diagnosis and struggle to beat it. Organized into three sections, the poems highlight the ups and downs of the journey of the speaker, from the fight of both body and mind, as well as the resolve and acceptance that comes with such a diagnosis.
The poet commands the page. The voice in each poem tears at the heartstrings, revealing the process of navigating chemo, radiation, and hair loss as in “Bling” and “Radiation Burn.” The words also beckon the readers into the intricate struggles of the disease beyond the physical such as family issues. In “Poem in Which I Consider Telling My Daughter That I Have Cancer Again,” the speaker contemplates sharing with her daughter that her cancer has returned “But what would be accomplished//in sharing this revived diagnosis” (23), revealing how cancer affects not only the patient but the family unit as well. The reader can sense the powerful bond of the mother/daughter relationship in this poem as well as throughout the collection.
The poetry is rhythmic throughout, imitating the complicated dance between health and illness, between calm and frenzy. In “Sustenance,” words pulse, electric with electric energy: “Wild overhang. No one goes here//…Blanched bark tree pretends at green willow” (17). At other times, they evoke a quiet respite from the struggles with soft lyrical language as in “My Safe Place:” “Here I am awash in morning with the tea./Attempting to translate/the language of cancer” (25).
The speaker is a warrior with her words. Her word choices show determination; they are well-crafted, with focus and aplomb. In “Interfering with Specific Molecules,” the poem ends exquisitely and effectively: “I will follow the river and her tributaries/biopsies recommended/disparities in survival” (16). Another touching example is in “Port” where the use of alliteration, assonance, and powerful symbolism abound and are skillfully utilized throughout the poem: “My daughter sang lullabies again/to me last night.//When floral fists of comfort/squeezing me to sleep” (31), allowing the reader to experience the complexities of this disease along with the speaker.
Hunt’s collection richly portrays the landscape of illness, encompassing all aspects of the struggle, but it also offers hope. It’s a must-have book for those who battle this disease but also for their families, medical staff, and caretakers. Most of all, The Fiction of Stillness shines a light on the preciousness of life and family, and it celebrates the indomitable human spirit.
The Fiction of Stillness by Robyn Hunt
Saddle Road Press, 2024
9798990054301
Elizabeth Brown is an award-winning children’s book author. She earned her MFA in Creative Writing from Goddard College. She teaches writing and the humanities at Saint Augustine College of Lewis University. She lives outside of Chicago with her teenage daughter and three sleepy cats.