What do they call you? Call Me California by Heather Sweeney, published by Finishing Line Press 2020, poses as a catalog of short biographies, punctuated with even shorter phrases. Call Me California explores surrealist images, where “your skin looks ceramic here you can kiss your own wrist to find form and meaning” (“Ash” 25) and gives the reader a sense of what it’s like to look like a monument / statue. This theme of being a sacred icon continues throughout, where the speaker confidently claims, “I do not mean to be sanctimonious here I mean to be a sanctuary” (22). Call Me California pays homage to the self by mixing personal iconography with larger personalities and visions.

The biographies are held together with repeated phrases. A meditative aspect resonates through these mantras, one which is the title of the collection: “call me” which Sweeney explores through space, place, and objects. “Call me” is varied like spouts of confetti or sometimes demanding, “say my name is peggy” (38). Sometimes, the view switches to moments where the speaker recollects “names for you” (“Pantry” 4) and “you are” like in the poems “Empire” and “Pearl.”

Outside of the self, a central theme of this collection appears: “If we line up our differences” (“Ocean” 8). A listing, a lining up of ways the speaker is different from other people, other places, other sounds and movements. This comparative exploration adds to the power of the self, where “Without you I am everything” (“Cabin” 10). What are you?

There aren’t many periods in these poems, which makes the poems appear breathless if not given the proper attention. However, for a real meditative moment, flip to page 23, where all the punctuation seems to be held. Spend time with this and see how it makes you feel. The lack of punctuation actually creates a slower pace for the overall reading experience.  The poems also invite re-reading, giving a timelessness to each page. With less directives to pause, readers need to take their time with each poem to find the pauses and breaks, which I encourage you to do.