In Sacred Flute, John C. Mannone offers 39 poems, described in the book’s introduction as “infused with and inspired by Native American Indian culture, history and legend.”
The poems are divided into seven sections, Land and Nature, Identity, Love, Dark History, Apocalyptic, Spirituality and Healing, and Afterlife.
A Review by Lisa Timpf
The wonder of the universe, the pain of past generations, a sense of magic, change, foreboding, loss, bewilderment, and love are among the emotions explored. Some of the poems have been previously published in venues like Sequoyah Cherokee River Journal, Songs of Eretz Poetry Review, Triangulation: Habitats, and Trickster Journal.
In the table of contents, Mannone indicates which Native American nation inspired, or has a connection to, each poem. Notes are also provided through epigraphs, in the body of the poems, or in post scripts to help readers make the connection. “Little Wishing Star,” for example, is an adaptation of the Chippewa legend “The Story of the Star and Water Lilies,” while “After the Felling of Trees” is linked to a Cree prophecy, and “Ant Hill People” was inspired by a Hopi legend. The connection of poems to existing lore provides deeper resonance, and some of the epigraphs and footnotes are poetic and powerful in and of themselves, offering a synergy with the poems.
Several poems contemplate the natural world, and the harm that has been done to it. “After the Felling of Trees” begins, “I still hear the mountains / cry.” The poem goes on to say that after “the woodman swung his mallet,” “split pieces / hung in air, as if in disbelief, / before they lumbered to the ground.” “Pangaea” contains the lines
I see only rubbled slopes, trees
fallen, not even an acorn left.
We breathe insolent green air
in her face, her green eyes fading.
In a blink, she will be gone.
Some of the poems explore, or evoke echoes of, the past. “Tanasi,” for example, notes:
. . . I hear echoes
of generations hovering over waters,
their swollen fingers reaching out
over the great expanse of the valley.
But the poems are not exclusively focussed on the past. Some contemplate the issues of the present, while linking these to Native American lore or prophecies. “Dreamcatcher,” for example, says “an asibikaashi, a spider woman, weaves a magical / web to sift the restless thoughts while we all dream,” and asks, “Will she weave one for nations since the world is asleep / to crimes against humanity?” “Ant Hill People” begins “Once the world was destroyed / by fire.” Later in the poem, the narrator notes,
Now there is a pestilence
that I see breaking loose
on the news, I wonder
of the consequence.
“Mythic Stars” is an example of the way some of the poems explore natural phenomena with a tinge of the speculative, including the lines:
Shiny clusters here and there: phantasms
of all the wild creatures we imagined.
And they could see us, too. One night,
the black oozed like wet tar in the heat
of the night. The stars dripped
their glossy oils and glittered earth.
“In Plain Sight,” a prose poem, also contemplates the stars: “I imagine galaxies clustering like beads of dew on tumbleweed of dark matter, each with their own countless lakes of fire—all the stars bowing, singing in celestial amphitheaters.” “Dark Matter” includes the lines:
. . . I ponder
the questions of physics
like Galileo and Einstein,
of myself, the mysterious
darkness that equations
cannot answer.
Though some of the poems explore sadness, loss, and bewilderment, “In Plain Sight” also speaks of “the magnificent beauty that still prevails,” offering hope, as do the poems in the “Love” and “Spirituality and Healing” sections in particular.
Powerful and moving, Sacred Flute offers echoes of the past, while contemplating the present and future. A resonant collection.
Lisa Timpf is a retired HR and communications professional who lives in Simcoe, Ontario. Her speculative poetry has appeared in New Myths, Liminality, Apparition Lit, Polar Borealis, and other venues. Her reviews have appeared in Star*Line, The Miramichi Review, The Future Fire, and Aethlon. You can find out more about Lisa's writing at http://lisatimpf.blogspot.com/.
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