The Sealey Challenge: DAY 2

Honey Dew by Darren J Beaney

i want to write / you a love song / a poem of affection / and pure adoration

Darren J Beaney is based near the Sussex coast, where he lives with his wife and two children. He completed an MA in Creative Writing with the University of Brighton and now co-hosts Flight of the Dragonfly open mic events in real life and on Zoom.

Darren currently has three pamphlets in circulation: I chose to go back to his first, Honey Dew, as without it, I would never have found my way to Dragonflies in the first place. I picked Still Falling in Love as a perfect example of this collection’s strengths.

Lessons from the Text

Occasionally, you’ll pick up a pamphlet or collection and immediately sense that you and the poet are approaching their task in the same way. This happens a lot with women poets, for obvious reasons. It is still rare to pick up a book of poems written by a man and get an initial connection. Darren was different, and so is this body of work.

From the multicoloured descriptive phrasing of Surfin’ Girl to the clever Now it Makes Sense to the gentle joy of Finding the Fit of Each Other this is a body of work I truly connected with both on an intellectual and spiritual level. It doesn’t pretend to be anything it isn’t either: love is apparent in every word and choice of poetic arrangement.

I’ve read a lot of collections where the poet is lost, or their authentic voice gets diluted by a publisher’s need to show an understanding of the craft. Not with Darren, who I hear, loud and clear, in every stanza presented. You know what you are getting, and I, for one, LOVE this dedication, genuine joy and absolute commitment to the task of entertainment.

Will you read it again? I dip into and out of this pamphlet a fair bit. It’s a great way of making me feel happy on days when loving myself is hard work. This work is massively affirming when you’re struggling mentally.

Would you recommend it for me to read? All three of Darren’s works are unique, brilliant pieces of poetry. Each has its own path to tread, and all of them are strong, absorbing works in their own rights. This is a perfect introduction to his output.

Here’s the Link to Darren’s Website 😀