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In her fifth collection, “Colorfast,” poet Rose McLarney takes readers on a unique and nostalgic journey through her upbringing in the Appalachian Mountains. Despite what its title suggests, “Colorfast” is an intimate, slow-paced poetry collection offering the perspective of an Appalachian-born woman in a deeply human manner. Using powerful descriptions and exposing her analogies at face value, McLarney’s “Colorfast” is an exhibition of the beauty in simplicity.
These poems all but explicitly state their meaning — a stark deviation from the frequent vagueness of modern poetry. However, this removal of the mental gymnastics normally needed to decipher a poem affords readers more space to consider their own reactions. Because many poems are centered broadly around childhood or alternatively, motherhood, readers from a variety of backgrounds can apply McLarney’s words to their own lived experiences.
Throughout the collection, motherhood is powerfully analogized to cooking a meal, while childhood is compared to eating said meal. This analogy can be applied to the book itself: McLarney painstakingly concocted poems for readers to ultimately consume. Thus, the experience described throughout the collection comes to life, providing readers with a direct example of this cooking analogy.
Aside from the powerful autonomy McLarney gives readers through the slow-paced and straightforward poems, “Colorfast” creates an intriguing dynamic by switching pronouns throughout the collection. Despite describing her own specific experiences, denoted usually by the first person, the broad use of the third person in other poems weaves together the experiences of McLarney and her readers.
This confluence of experiences is bolstered by ambiguous poetic narratives, paradoxically creating a curious intimacy between the book and its audience.
“Colorfast” does not house typical stories of female empowerment — such as those found in healing from an assault or liberation from societal norms — but instead authentically recount the lived experience of a woman in a way that does not feel at all forced.
Despite trying to refrain from judging a book by its cover, the cover of “Colorfast” — maximalist and dated in comparison to other modern poetry collections — is hard to ignore. The cover is initially jarring, but nonetheless, the deep reds coupled with the cream of the parchment is reminiscent of historical documents, creating the perfect environment for narratives of both childhood and history.
Moreover, the red on the cover provides an anchor for the first poem, titled “Question.” It begins with the line, “Such desire for the one red: the ruby.” The title alone primes the reader to connect with their own mind and creates powerful continuity that beautifully ties the collection together.
As for the collection’s formatting and structure, the pages are given large margins with borders and no images — the focus is solely on the words. A homogenous table of contents outlines the poems, each title formatted the same way to hone the collection’s focus further.
“Colorfast” is formulaic without being predictable or boring. Seasoned readers get a systematic collection, while for newer poetry readers, the intimidation of reading poetry is thus minimized. The poet clearly focuses on the relationship between the book and its readers, especially since the large margins almost beg to be annotated.
“Colorfast” incorporates traditional and contemporaneous elements in a way that is particularly fresh, invoking neither oppressive stereotypes nor confusing novelty. This unique fusion revolutionizes what both terms mean within poetry, while the collection remains an easily digestible — yet meaningful — read. McLarney couples deeply personal and impersonal experiences as a reminder of one’s place in both their own life and the broader history of the world. Much like the mountainous Appalachia she references, this collection is sure to intrigue and satisfy.
