My Chosen Prison
Christine Kaye Severson

With its strange rules and fickle meanings, language unites and divides. Christine Kay Severson attempts to weave together the expressive tie that binds humanity in My Chosen Prison. A professor at Monmouth University, Severson reflects on word choices, connecting ordinary scenes that confirm where we’ve been and search for where we’re headed.

Divided into four chapters, Severson examines word choices through the eyes of a writer, creative forces, teacher, and student. In “Words”, literature and books and the writing process take precedence and transform “those subjective shells” into carefully planned pieces. Creative geniuses offer a glimpse into their lives in “Attribution”.  Both the “Teacher” and “Student” chapters contain poems observing exclusive situations that are faced by individuals in their own way. The setting may be similar, but the language - or the lack of it - builds a sense of distinctiveness.

“Poetry is just a footnote,” Severson writes in “I Scribble Words.” Her assessment may be correct, but the reflection creates a vivid portrait of personalities. Every person has a story worth telling, and Severson brings those stories to the forefront in her collection. In “Shelly, I See You Shaking”, the worlds of a teacher and a student, both tormented by a world of gray, parallel the path of depression. Yet, only one survives. The compelling comparisons, brought to life by simple but extreme word choices, show a stark contrast in “This Year”.  Here, Severson brings humor to light when a young grad student lives in the house of a professor who is teaching abroad and finds a pair of satin underwear behind the prim and proper bed.

Within Severson’s images, readers may compare Severson’s imagery and truth-telling to the poems of Adrienne Rich. Both poets write about the successes and failures of language and how those combinations affect people. Honest tones and impressions are built around solid word selections, and in that sense, Severson makes a definitive impression.

My Chosen Prison is part of a larger body of work. Although these poems focus on a variety of aspects and situations, her Eros and Adultery collections contain more powerful poems. Perhaps it is the nature of the personal subject matter that draws the reader to those collections. If comparing the difficulties of language and expression as a theme, this collection stands on its own.

Severson writes with courage and tackles subjects that some may prefer be hidden or forgotten. My Chosen Prison lets readers toy with the odd rules and inconsistent meanings of language and visualize how others respond to the written and spoken word.