Look Into My Eyes

The title for this collection of poetry is taken from the first line of the first poem of the collection. The poem is entitled “Time” and the subsequent poems in Look Into My Eyes reach out to readers like the passing of hours of the “whole” day that has passed by the poet’s eyes.

These poems have the sense of being arranged into a more ancient mode of telling time – the sundial: such are their subjects and the weightiness of the poet’s sensibility. And the poet’s day is memory that has seen pain, stopped somewhere or stopped in places when life took a turn towards finality. Thus the sundial records those times when a shadow was cast on her life. The illustrations fit hand in glove with the text – they are inspired, and (one cannot help feeling) gracious, despite (or is it because of) the gravity of the matters being brought up.

Wilkinson’s subjects are what are known as immutable: death, time, resurrection, undying love. An interesting point of departure for these poems is the overtly musical sensibility that the poet brings into her lines. They underline the poet’s unashamedly true-blue romanticism. In the end, they speak of hope and that others, too, might find such hope where they are.