Customer Reviews

From Timber Ridge to Daymer Gardens

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From Timber Ridge to Daymer Gardens A Journey In Words

The fourteen selections in this book, poems written by Thorsten Kaye and Dorothy Bridges, are a blend and balance of light and dark, sadness and happiness, passion, tenderness, regret, and hope.

Visually, the slender volume with its leather string binding is very appealing, though the font style and print size may encourage readers to reach for their reading glasses.

When reading the poems of Dorothy Bridges, the word "joy" comes to mind. Her gentle words ring with joy and celebrate life even as she deals with loss and sorrow. She also evokes picturesque images of nature and its healing effect on the human soul in "Spring" and "Blowing Rain." "Sunday" is a thoughtful description a winter day's quiet reverie.

She pens a loving tribute to her late husband and companion of many years, Lloyd Bridges, to whom the book is dedicated. "There sits my dream of love, my hero, /The one I was young with/ There he sits in the sunset of our life," she writes in "Portrait of my Husband at Malibu."

There is a wonderful underlying rhythm in the straightforward structure of Thorsten Kaye's poetry, which the reader might expect from an actor who has interpreted the words of many of the world's finest writers. His narratives are introspective and insightful.

Love in many forms is explored in "Thorns and Roses" and "28", which are strong, vivid compositions exploring the depth, complexity and perplexity of a man's love for a woman, while "Mother Ocean" and "Hold Me" are filled with tenderness and longing.

Several of his poems, including "Timber Ridge" and "Nodding Acquaintance" deal with the passing of youth and its ideals, and suggest that we are reading the words of a man who is taking an inventory of his soul. In "Fall" he concludes simply, "Mum, there are ghosts after all."

In "Brothers" he views the shell of the old family home, now altered nearly beyond recognition, and recalls comfortable memories of familiar sounds and sights, as well as the people who once filled the home and its now-empty windows. He concludes that though the home and the playing fields do not remember him, he will carry one possession with away him: "I count me blessed for what I gained/The lifelong gift of brotherhood."

The accompanying CD, in which Mr. Kaye reads the poems in the book, accompanied by an applealing variety of background music, is the perfect companion to this lovely volume. Mr. Kaye is a classically trained actor with extensive stage experience, and his rich and memorable voice gives added dimension to the words of both authors.

The poems are romantic, rhythmic, and they celebrate beauty--not the sneering cynicism so prevalent today. Buy both the book and the CD, as Thorsten Kaye has a magnificent reading voice that does the poems justice.

The poets have shared highly intense hopes, dreams and memories. The words in and of themselves are often beautiful. Coupled with the emotions attached, their words paint pictures which range from softly blurred to vividly bright and clear. Some are passionate, some reflective, some hopeful, and some sorrowful. All are evocative and provocative.

I highly recommend this book to all lovers of their fellow humans and the spoken word.

The poetry on this CD is gently evocative of meloncholy memories that most listeners can relate to. But it is the captivating voice of the reader, Thorsten Kaye, that invites many listening moments.

This is a nice little chapbook of poetry, though it suffers from poor book design choices, such as obvious word processor layout and paper with texture on one side only. Nevertheless, both poets offer sweet and vivid verses. A cautionary ordering note, however--there appears to be a second edition available elsewhere, with new material--but perplexingly issued with the same ISBN.

I found this slim, delicate volume to be utterly enchanting. It is a lovely tribute to Mr. Bridges.
"A Journey in Words" is a fitting subtitle as there is strong physicality and a sense of specific locations in the poems while the journey of each one is in the mind and spirit. There is a delicate undercurrent throughout the book of the bittersweet passage of seasons and lives that draws the reader straight on through the journey of the volume.
I have always liked poetry that had rhythm and rhyme, grace and gentility and this volume provides that in abundance. They would be magnificent when read aloud.
Since reading it the first time, I have found myself coming back to many lines that echo in my head. One that touched me particularly -- "... in my soul I light a candle for all the words I didn't say." And I will probably always be haunted (no pun intended) by the line that ends all the stanzas of "Fall" by Thorsten Kaye, "Mum - there are ghosts after all."

Money would be better spent elsewhere. Though the poetry by Dorothy Bridges is a touching tribute to her husband, Kaye's poetry is lacking in depth and creativity. It is obvious that Kaye is a novice at the written word, as is also evidenced by the sparse number of poems included in the book. At many times during the brief read, I got the impression that Kaye simply forced himself to hammer out poems to get the "book" finished. Perhaps a longer time spent studying the genre, or adding more substance to both the poems and the volume would improve the book. The presentation of the book itself is equally as mediocre. Clearly, minimum standards were met in cover art, binding, and paper selection. If Kaye puts forth another poetic effort, one would hope that a more professional eye will be given to the packaging details of the book. I looked forward to reading the book, and am very disappointed to have to write a less than complimentary review.