By Kylie Wilmarth, Poetry Reviewer
Mahogany L. Browne is a poet, author, educator, and activist whose bold and powerfully authentic style shines in her 2023 poetry collection, Chrome Valley. Browne’s work is steeped in her personal challenges, drawing from her experiences with racism, misogyny, addiction, and abuse. These themes and hardships haunt every line in this collection, folding under the weight that Browne shoulders and creating a love letter to the Black women of America. The poems’ eclectic nature is evident in the ever-changing structure and subject matter, while the powerful themes remain in your face. Chrome Valley offers a raw perspective on the cycle of violence and abuse that is Black womanhood, while relishing in the unique love and passion that it offers.
The collection is a beautiful whirlwind to read. It tells the tale of Redbone, the narrator’s mother, and her tumultuous relationship with Bam. These snippets into her life are interspersed with poems about personal topics for Browne, such as nostalgia, the tragedy and joy of Black motherhood, the cycle of abuse that so many Black women fall victim to, and the violence that haunts Black Americans. The story and world that she paints may as well be a memoir in how vividly it paints a working-class childhood and life.
The structure shifts throughout the collection, offering a varied experience for the reader in the formatting as well as the content. The perspective also switches, with the occasional first person POV from Redbone. Some poems, such as “1981”, are one dense paragraph that takes up the whole page. Others are represented in stanzas, while others are more freeform, like “Trivia” being in question-response form.
The incredibly diverse use of formatting offers the reader a look into the chaotic world that Browne grew up in. One beautiful example is “Before, a Palindrome,” a poem written as a palindrome that tells the story of the narrator’s grandfather. We are introduced to him as a cold cheater who asks for a ride to his mistress’s house.
“he introduced me to his new wife a cathedral of lost things
his step-daughter called him daddy with milk teeth
after the memorable meeting
he asked me for a ride to the ruptured nest of his mistress”
But after the poem finishes, it reverses and repeats. The tale is told again, but we see him in a much more relatable and sympathetic light. Again, we see her play with the structure as she shuffles the lines around to create a deeper meaning.
“he asked me for a car ride to his mistress’ ruptured nest
his step-daughter called him daddy with rotten milk teeth
after the memorable meeting
he introduced me to his new wife
a cathedral of lost things”
One of the greater strengths from the collection is how Browne jumps around between subjects. I found it to be a dizzying delight to jump between learning more about Redbone and her relationship with Bam, to yet another poem about desire using water and nature as a metaphor, to a few haunting stanzas about violence against Black bodies. Those who prefer more structure and consistency may find this off-putting, but I found that it created a well-rounded reading experience. It creates a sense of passion that allows the reader to feel the tight vibrance of the community and the love thrumming under skin in Browne’s expressive prose.
Overall, I felt that this collection was a beautiful ode to Black girlhood. I would recommend this book to anyone who’s ready for a melodic whirlwind of love, desire, nostalgia, and pain.