Tripping the Allegory Fantastic by Mara Recalis

Tripping the Allegory Fantastic

Mara Recalis

FriesenPress (2024)

978-1038310255

Reviewed by Jordan Waterwash for Reader Views (08/2025)

https://readerviews.com/reviews/tripping-the-allegory-fantastic-recalis/

3/5

Tripping the Allegory Fantastic by Mara Recalis explores the natural world and our place in it via lyrical, insightful poetry. Each poem guides the reader through themes of life, death, and rebirth, with the ultimate prize at the collection’s end being a better understanding of yourself and the world than when you started. Recalis uses clear imagery to convey what it means to live in remembrance of the constant cycle of life, death, and rebirth.

Included alongside the poems are pieces of art and photography done by Recalis herself. These images add to the overall themes of the work by giving the reader a look into how Recalis views the world. “Ascension (Blackcomb Peak 2000)” depicts a snowy scene in the forest. The stream appears frozen over, and the pines are covered in snow. There’s a thick mist blurring the treetops on hills in the distance. This image perfectly captures what the poetry in Tripping the Allegory Fantastic intends to impart on its readers: life occurs in cycles, and what is still now will soon return to life in time.

The poems included in this collection are masterfully crafted with care; in particular, the sestinas showcase Recalis’s technical ability. While the sonnets do not follow the typical format, they are still wholly enjoyable. The haikus and free verse poems do an excellent job demonstrating the brevity of little moments in all our lives, as well as the joy of the mundane. For example, “Little White Butterfly” exhibits a lovely moment between the narrator and a butterfly, with the underlining meaning referring to a guardian figure who has since passed. This haiku wraps together all three of the themes present in Tripping the Allegory Fantastic, and it does so beautifully.

Other poems in the collection, while easy to read and enjoyable, could have been more direct in their themes. While poetry thrives in the gray area, some poems would have benefited from a clearer message. Additionally, the ratio of haikus far outweighed the other forms. I did love most of the haikus, but I would have liked to see a greater variety across the board.

For those who are interested in metaphysical poetry, Tripping the Allegory Fantastic will make a great addition to your collection. Similar to works by Paulo Coelho (author of The Alchemist), this poetry collection allows the reader to lose themselves in down-to-earth writing while learning to navigate life.