SUSAN LOVE FITTS' NEW BOOK OF POETRY THOUGHT PROVOKING

by  Peggie Miller
The Conroe Courier, Sept. 16, 2001


  Susan Love Fitts writes poetry about people we've all known, emotions we've all felt and masks we've all worn.

  The rather shy, softspoken writer lives in Bentwater with her composer/husband, Charles Fitts. On Oct. 27, her first volume of original verses will be launched at the Cover-to-Cover Bookstore in Natchez, Miss., Fitts' hometown.

  Poems in the book, entitled "liking the bones dry" (no capital letters), are largely serious and mostly about stripping away masks people wear to survive expectations placed by themselves and others.

  "Only when the masks are all gone," Fitts said, "can you lick the bones of life dry, and live with authenticity." Although the book is not yet in stores, Fitts does have some advance copies and has filled a number of speaking and signing engagements in the Houston area.

  Her poetry is thought provoking, the kind you want to keep going back to, even if you are not a poetry lover. "Sanctus Sestina" contrasts the tranquil inside a church building to the harsh reality of street life outside, with its gangs, blood-curdling 911 emergencies and a mother kneeling over her dying son, shot in a convenience store.

  One of my favorites is "Bobby Barley" about a writer who has everything to make himself happy, but is paralyzed by writers' block. Only when he loses all he loves does he achieve the angst that wins him a Pulitzer.

  Another is ostensibly about a writer who is unable to write a happy ending for his own life. Fitts captures much pith with minimal words.

  Some of the work is humorous; "Anonymous" catalogs all the numbers that make us faceless; for example - social security, licenses, credit cards, bank accounts. "Nobody knows my name anymore ...except there was that little pub in Boston ...with its brew of the day - anonymous ale!"

  To write "Perfect," a poetic essay, required courage and insight. It exposes emptiness and vacuity in the lives of some who dress and entertain flawlessly, and who languish at dinner parties talking about the imperfect ones who are not there. "Is It Bliss Yet?" describes a wife in a repressive and abusive marriage who finally summons enough grit to pack her spiral notebook and leave.

  Fitts' work is a celebration of emancipation that is intimate and tender. It consists of 70 pages you'll pick up more than once. Add me to the list of those who anticipate her next volume.

  If you'd like to hear Fitts read her poetry in a pre-published preview, you can do that Thursday, Sept. 20, at Walden Yacht Club. She will speak at the annual Literacy Celebration luncheon hosted by the Lake Conroe Area Republican Women (LCARW) at 11:15 a.m. Lunch costs $10. Call President Luine Hancock at (936) 447-1212 no later than Wednesday.