Dialogue, Volume 25, Number 2 - Dialogue – A Journal of Mormon ...

176 DIALOGUE: A JOURNAL OF MORMON THOUGHT
BRIEF NOTICE
Looking for the Blue Rose by Veneta
Leatham Nielsen (Logan: University of
Utah Press, 1990), 147 pp. $14.95.
AN EMERITUS PROFESSOR of English from
Utah State University, Veneta Leatham
Nielsen has been a presence in Utah/
Mormon poetry for many years, "weaving]
her poems, somewhere between
myth and morning," in the words of this
volume's dust jacket. This perception of
her work aptly describes this collection
which embodies a personal quest for excellence
and understanding in a world
of mythic dimensions, symbolized by
the blue rose.
Nielsen calls it a "collection of poems
and ponderings," and most of the poems
do explore the spiritual/philosophical
unease of the late-twentieth century. Her
own answer is that "seeking, not finding,
is the ultimate purpose and meaning of
life" (p. xiii).
These poems require time to reread
and ponder with the poet why
. . . the perfect flower, Mallarme
The haunting indispensable,
As you have said, is "absent
From all bouquets". . . . (p. 70)