THE MAINE ROAD ... A BOOK REVIEW ...
By Michael Amado
Cape Cod Freelance Writer
and Ibbetson Street Press Member
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"The Maine Road Magazine!" (The Miles . . . The Memories.) Summer 2007, by K. Peddlar Bridges Published by Roadpoet eMagazine roadpoet.com $6.00 A huge thing the poetry of K. Peddlar Bridges succeeds at is bringing the biker experience to non-bikers, (such as this reviewer) and giving it life. In Peddlar's latest chapbook, "The Maine Road Magazine!", he begins with the poem and blueprint thesis "The Question is? . . . " asking is this a chapbook or magazine and responding with: "The answer is most likely that it's neither. The answer is most likely that it's both." Future on he presents how "The Maine Road" will pan out: ". . . we hope in the future, that more issues will be produced and other writers, poets and photographers will be featured as well in those issues." Peddlar this time around is trying out something else. The bulk of "The Maine Road" is poems about the mystique of vintage automobiles and how cars construct the dreams and memories of a lifetime. In "Old Blue Car" Peddlar takes us through a chronology where regret and appreciating the ones you love meld. The speaker starts off, full of bravado recounting hanging around with his "tough kid friends" as his father pulls up in the said blue car: "And my father pointed over to the seat where my old, late-teen dog sat panting, huffing trying to keep his breath and my father said 'I'm taking the dog to the Vet - you want to come?'. . .'And shook my head, 'Naw'" And in my tough-kid voice, I lied: 'Yeah . . . I'm sure." The speaker then missing out on the last time he'll ever see the dog again. Later, the same scenario resurfaces, this time when the father drives up asking, "I've got somewhere to go, you want to come?", the speaker knows: "We were talking about that last ride . . ." "And I sucked in my tough-biker gut, and shook my head and said, 'Naw'" The refrain of wishing that he took that ride is a strong point in the piece, along with one other constant element: the old blue car driving away. "The Maine Road" is credited to Peddlar but it's not a solo show, but a collaborative effort. Printed here is "Your Tribe" a signature poem by Mary Carol Kennedy aka The Song Bird, a fellow Biker Poet and musician (and a killer on the sax!). In this poem about acceptance and being accepted she states: "Yes, be a freedom rider, With thousands of others, Who are out-laws, sisters, kin, friends and brothers." In the poem, "(The poetic email poem from Hacksaw:)" by biker and poet Hacksaw, he strikes an interesting comparison between when he was three years old in the back seat of his father's Chevy Bizz Coupe and his daughter (now three years old) in a safety seat in a van. He writes: "50 years ago I was free, a crawl space in a magic turtle of an iron beast . . . free to tumble with every corner . . . free to soar to the moon with each bump in the road." Concerning his daughter, the speaker now considers how she's riding encircled by plastic, computer chips, resins and alloy materials used in the cars of today, resolving that: ". . . her life is shaped by restraint." And, "50 years from now, who (knows) ???" True to the magazine format, inserted are, yes, advertisements; not the average, glossy product ads, but for book stores and bike shops; a sort of "props" to the people and places that helped get "The Maine Road" on the road. Also photos of vintage cars and saved e-mails can be found which add a unique touch to this chapbook that's a magazine and this magazine that's also a chapbook. Whether it be chapbooks such as "The Maine Road", Peddlar visibly does his leg work for poetry. Some of his credits include co-founder of the Biker Poets & Writers Association and founder of the RoadPoet online magazine. He also is a columnist for CT Cruise News and motorcyclegoodies.com, as well he's a writing workshop teacher. And if you're a poet, a biker, or both, or neither - these poems resonate on a human level with raw honesty. XXX |
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