My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Secret Scribbled Notebooks by Joanne Horniman represents teenage Kate's journey of identity; a journey seeking self-worth and purpose. Each notebook colour represents symbolic signposts in that journey. The red notebook is the current moment of thought; the blue is the limited memory and the yellow, from a third-person perspective, seems to have been inserted in some vague future. In that journey, Kate looks at her circumstances and tries to make sense of them, her role in them. To one special person, Kate introduces herself as Penelope. That seems to be a sign of wishing she had some special vibe in her presence. Sprinkled through her journey are alignments with musicians - Crowded House- and writers - Oscar Wilde. Is this a novel? an autobiography? a diary? Somehow, the concept of notebook seems to be the best-fit tag. There is a barrage of variables in these notebooks, but there is one constant, a tree, a fig tree. That tree is her home, her sanctuary for dreaming. Overall, this book is an intriguing insight into the cogs and wheels of inner, secret processes perhaps we all may recognise.
MY POETIC REVIEW: Songlines on the Winds
View all my reviews
A poetic response to 'Secret Scribbled Notebooks' (2004) - Joanne Horniman
— Gemma Wiseman - on Bunurong land, Kulin Nation (@AuraGem) December 12, 2021
in this life
I choose to be a tree
ever-changing
a deciduous tree
sleeping winter slumbers
unfolding new leaves
in the springtime
those who love me
appreciate
all that I am#micropoetry pic.twitter.com/uMgN92P0nv