Sundress Reads: Review of Fantasy of Loving the Fantasy

Jennifer Funk’s poetry collection, Fantasy of Loving the Fantasy (Bull City Press, 2023) is a hypnotic journey through daydreams with undertones that reflect the fear and courage it takes to hope for more. From the glorious to the spiteful, the wistful to the contemplative, each poem is a compelling fantasy and a sincere exploration of wishes that linger in the recesses of our mind. Funk invites readers to dream along, to consider their wildest fantasies alongside their sincerest wishes as she touches on themes of self-love, self-doubt, and the complex emotions associated with yearning for something while grappling with the reluctance to admit those desires, nor truly wanting to see them through. 

Funk’s tone throughout the collection is strikingly authentic. There is originality to the words she writes, yet they are still somehow familiar as she captures the wondrous nature of fantasy. In “Lady Brett Ashley,” Funk writes, “It seems impossible / for a woman to live without / a little fiction” (34), which seems to be the perfect explanation for the impossible familiarity a reader feels towards the fantasies of others. 

Funk begins with “Make Me Familiar,” its story transporting readers to the hues of August. This establishes the general hazy, wistful aesthetic that resonates with the thoughts that come when staring out a window on a warm day. Funk writes, “I can find myself, creature of terminal haste, creature / ever mid-stride, reconsidering the world in the middle of the road” (4). Her style weaves together reflection and reverie as her speaker embarks on fantasy. 

“Origin Story: 1” establishes the necessity of daydreams—their roots and desires that elude reality. Funk writes, “I am from the hot feelings / my mother suggested might ruin me the way / they ruined her, so I kept a meticulous record / of the fires I started” (Funk 12). This disclosure is central to the collection’s embrace of reverie, and the symbol of fire returns in the end of the collection with new meaning– a symbol of destruction turned into one of rebirth.

The range of fantasies displayed throughout this collection is outstanding. In “I Run Down All Roads,” Funk writes a testament to the fragility of romantic hopes. She captures the illusions that lead nowhere, the bitterness of unmet expectation:

“I go into every maybe this time already ahead

of the story, which is real, or not real, is real as the fog now

 blurring the view ahead…

I run down the future, I am so so fast,

I chase down would you want to, I pant, I pant, I cannot be caught, I am not

being chased, it will never be as good as this. Silence. Eating alone.” (Funk 19)

Funk encapsualtes the dichotomy of yearning for an idealized love and the reality that follows. The acknowledgement that “it will never be as good as this” highlights the way reality cannot satiate a preference for what is fantastical. “Silence. Eating alone” paints a poignant picture of the solitude in the aftermath of unfulfilled wishes. Funk gives way to quiet, solitary reality. 

The slightly sinister quality in these intense imaginations lies in the recognition of the darker side of daydreams. Funk’s awareness makes for a complex and multi-dimensional narrative. She doesn’t shy away from the matter of self-deception and emotional tolls.

Funk begins to close the circle of fantasy with “Consent,” navigating the societal expectations that often shroud our imagination. She writes,

“But I could be

caught, I could be lightning

Directed, flash inanimate. Out beyond

These walls…

I want to say

I never assented to any role I was not fully certain I could sell

but I, too, am susceptible to the suspicion I should be 

dumb and grateful, like a cow or a potted plant.” (Funk 15)

The candid admission to the conflict between autonomy and conformity is a strong reflection on the external pressures that rouse one from a daydream, the consideration that it is selfish to wish for more, but impossible not to. 

In “Who Can Say,” Funk writes, “This tight circle of my life. I have been intent to wish for less,/ and what has this restraint cost, what has been left uncalled for” (40). She still asks the reader if the cost of hoping in vain is greater than the cost of hoping for less altogether. 

Fantasy of Loving the Fantasy is a fantastic collection that captures the essence of wanting and waiting. Funk’s ability to articulate the little things we all have dreamt about makes this collection a must-read for anyone looking to understand the landscape of their desires. 

Fantasy of Loving the Fantasy is available from Bull City Press

---

Caitlin Mulqueen is a senior at the University of Tennessee majoring in English and Journalism. She loves reading, playing piano, watching sports, and the Oxford comma. She has worked as an Editorial Graphics Production intern at ESPN, is a copy editor at The Daily Beacon, a student writer for Tennessee Athletics, a graphics and video operator for the SEC Network, and a marketing/social media intern for the Knoxville Ice Bears. With the majority of her undergraduate work being in sports media, literary media has remained her sincerest passion, finding stories that come out of sports to be as moving as those from literature.