Title: These Dark Pages
Author: Jordan Parker
Publisher: AuthorHouseUK
ISBN: 978-1-7283-5622-8
Pages: 65
Genre: Poetry
Reviewed by: Allison Walker
Pacific Book Review
It’s almost unfair to label These Dark Pages as poetry since they fly in the face of many preconceived notions about what poetry should be. Poet Jordan Parker takes readers on a ride which is journalistic in nature, poetic by page and meter, and prose whenever he feels like it. These Dark Pages is seeking a release from pain through curse words, ALL CAPITALS, and always: poetry.
As you read through the collection of poetry, These Dark Pages becomes a journal. Parker chooses to use his own name for his fictitious main character. The poems are so compelling, at times it’s difficult to remember the poet is in fact still living. You learn the awful secret the main character, the narrator is living with, just barely. Aptly named, These Dark Pages is a collection of poetry verging on morbid. The poet tackles fear, anger and impending demise. The poems struggle to find solace in death, sometimes failing and sometimes succeeding. They grapple with the concept of an afterlife, and in these, the poems address love. After all, where is the pain in death if not in leaving something behind?
There are wild shifts in voice mid-poem that, strange as it may seem, strongly express the poet’s depth of emotion. From a rhyming poem, into a repetitious poem, and then to prose and dialogue. In this spooky way, we feel the poet slowly loses control. The careful rhyme and meter give way to something much rawer and more personal. What these poems lack in finesse and maturity, they more than make up for in brutality. The strongest poems in the collection are arguably those with this shifting style. In these, Parker is finally let loose to express the depth of expression he desires. He’s not confined by rhyme. As a collection, Parker does a superb job pulling his pieces
together. These Dark Pages is truly a narrative with a defined beginning, a breath-taking climax, and an ending which provides a sense of resolution to the reader.
These Dark Pages are poems for teens and young adults. Despite the mature theme, the poems don’t get bogged down by philosophy. They’re fast paced and they’re volatile. His poems are about what teenagers go through and the strong emotions they feel. Besides death and love, Parker writes about breaking up with a girlfriend and a desire to connect with dislocated family. These Dark Pages is a brutal, uncensored collection unlike your typical young adult poetry.
