Patterns of All Made Things

Hen Run, 2019, £4

ISBN: 978-1-9996903-2-8

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This sequence of poetry is influenced by the Kalevala and echoes the violence women endured as shown in the epic. The collection coalesces a patriarchal society with inevitable challenges of motherhood and the plight of some women in today’s world who are subjected to violence, arranged marriage, oppression and abuse. The poetry does not shy away from the pain, rebellion, and the strength to break free, to survive, to celebrate the value of womanhood.

Doctor Elias Lönnrot compiled old Finnish songs from oral tradition collected on his travels. Lönnrot’s compilation Kalevala was first published in 1849 and became the national epic of Finland. The epic is often seen as portraying misogyny and violence, yet it is credited with leading the way of empowerment for women. It is seen as a metaphor for the reconstruction of the Finnish nation. Patterns of All Made Things hints at Lönnrot’s effect on women confined by inequality, showing them a way to extricate themselves from oppression. Women in Finland were the first in Europe to achieve the vote, and the first in the world to be elected to a national parliament. Women’s International Day celebrates this in Finland. In 2016 President Niinisto stated that “access to women’s unrestricted rights … was a revolution by law.”

There is violence of mythic proportions in this collection, which is right and proper as poet Sheila Aldous uses the stories from the Finnish epic “Kalevala” to extract the primeval and ancient history of the sufferings of women, from sexual exploitation to violent abuse. The imagery is of red shoes, the forging of metal, ice and snow: brutal, harsh and chilling. But ultimately the poems are stories of survival and going beyond, of women coming into their own power.

Gill McEvoy

Hauntingly and violently beautiful [this] is a stunning poetic
journey to emancipation and is masterfully crafted.

Mary Norton Gillone

This is a wonderful collection with the veneer peeled away to reveal savagery and cruelty, but also the inescapable truth that there is a synergy between woman and nature. Through strength, perseverance and love we have a template for a fulfilled life if only we have the sense to appreciate it. The poet hints that we should all bind ourselves to the weft and warp, as in Weft and Warp she says ‘Don’t let them slip this loom of life / don’t let the threads escape.’

Martyn Barlow