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By Andrew Angus
Title of book: Tears rolling down the heartstring
By: Randy L. Redmond (Illinois)
98 pages / 99 Poems
Price: US $12.00
Year of release: 2004
Released by: Author House Press
Bloomington, Indiana 47403
www.authorhouse.com
ISBN: 1-4184-9287-6
Review By: Andrew Angus
I received Randy's book in November 2004. I reviewed his book for a couple of months.
I was surprised by Randy's book because while I was reading his poetry book, I found myself singing some of his poems due to the fact that I found some of his poems are like lyrics of a ballad. I am a musician, lyricist, poet., etc. As a song writer, I know what a romantic song looks like.
I decided to interview Randy by email. I asked Randy if he was a musician. Randy answered in the email interview that he was not a musician and he just like music but he does not know any musical instrument.
The poems of Randy are very interesting for many reasons. He writes his poems like a lyricist. Many of his poems revolve around a female character. There are 99 poems in the book. Around 60 poems in his poetry book revolve around a female character.
Randy's book is divided into 7 chapters - Chapter 1- The String, Chapter 2- The Arrival, Chapter 3-The Heart, Chapter 4-The Tears, Chapter 5-The Hidden, ,Chapter 6- The Tug, Chapter 7- The Short But Sweet.
Is Randy Redmond a playboy? A romantic dreamer?
Randy pours or bares his inner feelings about love in his first book of poetry. He tells a story about women. He talks about - heartaches about his first love (The Last Day of the First Lover p.47), memories of a past girlfriend (A Flash of Memories p.1) , a man left by a girlfriend (Not Heard, Now Gone p.2), a lady longing for love (The Longest Night p. 59), a guy longing for a reconciliation with a girlfriend (Jess p. 57), a girl insensitive to her husband's love (Don't Share the Pain p.62 ), a guy leaving a girlfriend (Dying for Your Love p. 65 ), and many more themes involving a female character.
Randy's meter style varies. Sometimes his meter style is 2 syllables per line. Sometimes, his meter will reach 12 syllables per line. He does not use traditional forms like sonnets, haiku, etc.
Many of his poems are poignant like the poems "Tears" p.43, "The Love in Your Eyes" p.45, "Sender of Sadness" p.46, "My Heart In You" p. 38, "Dying for Your Love" p. 65, etc.. Maybe this is the reason for the title of his poetry book - Tears rolling down the heartstring.
Does Randy wants to make his readers cry? The poem "Dying For Your Love" is a good example of a poignant poem - "I'm so lonely inside/ I need something to do/ to take my mind off of you/ Because I'm going to hurt you/ When I leave you to go/ Try to forget all of me/ But I can't forget you.// I want you, I need you/ I'm dying for your love/ I kiss you, I hug you/ I'm dying for your love// I want you one more time/To be in my arms again/ For the last time that I see you/ Will be special in my heart/ Because I'll be leaving you/I'm going to save you the pain// And when I go/ I hope you will know/ the love I felt for you, was so deep inside/ It made me cry, when I wrote this.. to you.//
Randy writes as if he is an authority in romance like in the poem "The Sensation". He describes what a woman is in a relationship in this poem. "The touch of her hand on your face/The feel of her lips on your chest/ When you just can't stop/ the sensation. // The smell of her hair in the wind/ The taste of her neck on your mind/If you can't hold back/ the sensation.// She's/Inspiration, desperation/Intution, domination/ Accomodation, adoration/ Manipulation, intoxication/ One beautiful addiction/ Definitely/ The sensation."
Randy has few nature poems like the "The Creek", "Winter's Call", "All The River's Run", "As The Rivers Bend", "Sunrise is Here", "Sunset", "Scenic Journey". Some of his nature poems are tied to romance such as "The Creek" and "This Rose".
Randy took banking as his college course. I wondered why Randy can write poetry when he does not have a background in creative writing. I found out that that Randy actually learned to write a poem by studying the lyrics of songs. This is revealed in the Preface of his book. What a funny way to learn poetry! But it worked for him!
Poems about wooing women is kind of archaic nowadays. But not for Randy. Some of his poems unleash sweet words that could sweep women off their feet just like a balladeer in his poems"The Love In Your Eyes" and "This Rose".
Randy's narrative poems are easy to read. He does not use difficult words but only simple everyday words. If Randy only knew how to play the piano or a guitar, he could have been a good songwriter, a balladeer or a country singer.
Some of Randy's poems are nominated Best Poem of the Year 2004 by Muses Review such as "The Creek", "This Rose", "The Love in Your Eyes", just to name a few.
If you enjoy reading romantic novels, you might want to read the romantic narrative poems of Randy L. Redmond. I would recommend this book to love-struck men or romance-starved women. Perhaps, you can learn something about the pitfalls of love or the joys of romance in this poetry book.