Literary, literally.

reviews of small press and self-published literature var sc_project=12125867; var sc_invisible=0; var sc_security="36c338a4"; var scJsHost = "https://"; document.write("");

[niwiumz]

welcome to ghost town by Gretchen Gomez

Can be found here: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07GX8Y5V3/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_d_asin_title_o00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Read this while stressing about NaNoWriMo (tomorrow!)

(Or, well, it’ll be tomorrow when this is posted. I’m writing this on Sunday, 10/27)

Quoting her bio:

“Gretchen Gomez is a Puerto Rican poet from The Bronx.”

So, sweet

The authors note ends with

“spoiler alert: there is no healing and hope in the pages to come”

I love poets.

People complain about “prosey” poems, poems that are full sentences with line breaks, because they (the people) say they (the poems) should be regular prose, not broken up to be poetry, and tbh that’s not a good opinion

A phrase written like this is different than a

Phrase. Written. Like. This. Is. Different. Than.

A phrase

written

like

this

is

different

too.

And sometimes

feelings

can’t

be

expressed

through paragraphs.

I get people saying that poetry should be about sound and word craft, but that’s not what Poetry should be, that’s “the poetry that I like is like this”

Anyway.

I like “they were conspiring against you”, read that one

Everyone is an archetype here

Confession: I didn’t finish this book

Partly because this book is 184 pages and I have an attention span of 65 at most

Partly because reading this book in particular was frustrating

I don’t know why people have sex tbh

I don’t know why people date tbh

I don’t know why people fall in love tbh

Happy Halloween

[niwiumz]

things that inspire me by Jaime Nyx

Read this while frustrated because Halloween is this Thursday and I can’t find my costume

This was a gift and I’m thankful for it

It has a lovely watercolor aesthetic

Washi tape, stickers, gel pens

I’ve been having a bad day because I feel like I should be creating something but I’m having trouble figuring out what

One page had a sticker that says “my favorite things” with “things” crossed out and “people” written in

I’m glad I got to read this zine

[niwiumz]

Coronations, by Catherine Kyle

published by Ghost City Press, can be found here

Read this while watching MSNBC 10/12

This chapbook is about fairytales It’s been a while since I was “into” fairytales but I’m game to read it

I really like “Water Crush,” I like the characterization in one page There are limits to what you can show a person without changing them

(Someone make me a mixtape about the little mermaid)

Many years ago I watched a version of Rumpelstiltskin that had the titular… fae? …. singing a little ditty

I don’t think that is the version the author had in mind when writing “Gold Spinner”

I like Catherine’s coined word, “re-human” It’s a phrase that has more applications than I would have thought

“Collective” has a wonderful ending

I always appreciate versions of Hansel & Gretel that emphasize the sibling bond Kids are kids and they don’t know better Kids are kids and sometimes they’re the only ones they have to depend on

I googled Vasilisa & read the Wikipedia synopsis before reading “Baba Yaga’s Gift” to make sure I had context

I want to dig up the burning skull but that is probably not a good idea

“Needles” is like “Water Crush”; they are unlike the other poems in that they seem to be modern-day tales

“Introvert Tower”: mood

“The Gardener”: I used to live in a city with flowers everywhere. Now I live in a city that gets winter, and the flowers don’t survive.

Maybe I just haven’t adapted myself.

I know Frozen is the new pop culture version of The Snow Queen but the joy of fairytales is that every one has a thousand retellings, and I like Catherine’s telling

You don’t understand, I really like “Gerda’s Rebuke”.

I hope Gerda is happy wherever she is now

[niwiumz]

Soledad by Esteban Rodríguez

published by Ghost City Press, can be found here

Read this while lying in bed listening to AM Joy

The first poem is called “Postcard” and I could see this fitting on a postcard

The poem makes me feel sad

Had to google “Elyria” and it looks like it’s a city in Ohio

Thing about things -- thing about how I interact with things -- is I need context. Each of these poems make some sense individually, but I don’t understand what they’re supposed to be saying altogether

I almost read “Postcard II” out loud, it feels like a poem that would sound cool performed

Is the story that the south is creepy? That circuses are creepy? That children in their innocence get up to some creepy stuff without realizing it?

Words repeated in the poems: homeless / mannequin / postcard

I just wish I understood more

[niwiumz]

this town and everyone in it by Adrian Belmes

published by Ghost City Press, can be found here

Read this while listening to Last Week Tonight with John Oliver

This chapbook has photographs

This chapbook is in a sans serif font, and has no capitalization; it gives a plain, less formal “vibe”, like sitting in a diner having a quiet conversation

I have lived in a small town for like… a year and a half maybe? In 2017/18. I grew up in a suburb on an island. My point being that small towns seem alternately creepy/melancholy and this chapbook hits “melancholy” perfectly

“the you at the end is the you that’s the happier you.” is a kicker of a line. 10/10

“The Long Place” (where said line is from) makes me think about my friends, how I must seem to them

I have one (1) Christian friends and that makes me sad somehow. I want my faith to be a bigger part of my life & having something be a part of your life means that you have friends you share it with

“people taking pictures of people taking pictures of people taking pictures” made me get up and test my camera to see if the film was still good (it wasn’t)

(Wait, it is!)

“The Long Place” was originally published in Honey & Lime and like, of course it was. That magazine publishes good stuff.

I like the rainbow picture on the acknowledgments page. I wonder how they did that.

[niwiumz]

Suitable for All Methods of Communication by Jacquelyn Bengfort

published by Ghost City Press, can be found here

Read while sitting in bed listening to AM Joy

Author’s note explains the method of communication and I already know I’m gonna like this book

First poem, “Prayer,” and I’m blown away

BRAVO KILO DELTA VICTOR UNAONE

                 You are overhead                  I am adrift

I want to get a line from this poem tattooed on the inside of my wrist

Of course the trouble is KILO looks so random without context but it means something important you know?

“Love Song” has a refrain & I think someone could sing this, though I realize singing the “UNIFORM SIERRA UNAONE” part will defeat the purpose of communicating in signal

WWI was, I think, called “the writers’ war” and “Lament” fits it perfectly

Do you think the soldiers who fought in WWI would be disappointed if they saw us now

I think everyone in history would be disappointed if they saw us now tbh

“Ode” is, if I could be forgiven some Gen Z talk, a big mood. The ocean is so amazing and we all should be grateful we have it

I looked up the NATO alphabet to see if I could write a message in it. All I could come up with was this:

BRAVO ZULU TANGO YANKEE

             Wonderfully done              Thank you

[niwiumz]

portrait of a deer, by rob mclennan

published by postghostpress

Read this while listening to “Old Town Hall”

There are more words in this chapbook than expected

Imagery poem. Should be having a cup of tea as I’m relaxing in bed. Where is the deer?

What does this mean? It’s a question I ask myself whenever getting into a poem. (It’s why I look up lyrics before listening to the song.)

The words are words but I don’t think there’s a concrete story behind them. (What does all of this mean?)

I don’t think I’m reading this right

Antlers

Last poem, “On the value of making,” speaks to me (makes the most sense, to me)

Making is... resistance.

Yes, let us make.

[niwiumz]

love and war and make-believe, by trevor parece

can be found here

Read this while listening to Jimmy Kimmel Live

My brother is a musician He plays classical instruments, flute, viola, piano He composes & he’s really good at it I’m the literary one I think some of the best poetry in the world is set to music

I’m imagining these poems sung by a guy with a guitar in a lonely bar somewhere Maybe that’s too cliche If this was in Italian I could see an opera singer performing it Nothing against English it just doesn’t have the trills of Orfeo

I could see Jeremy Renner singing this (I never thought Hawkeye would have a music career especially with his scratchy voice but I fully support Hawkeye having a music career)

There’s a page where the text is backward and I wonder if this is supposed to represent something musically

I should say something about the subject matter of the poems but I am more interested in the form

Songs for your OTP

I would probably buy this album

[niwiumz]

sorry it’s not better news, by Danny Mclaren

published by postghostpress

Read this while listening to Seth Meyer’s A Closer Look from 9/25

It is hard to write a proper rejection letter. Editors generally do not want to insult the rejectee. And writers are notorious for reading more into the lines than what was intended

(Somewhere along the line I grew up convinced that it is only a matter of time before everyone loses patience with me)

I appreciate the placement of words to make a poem that is both unusual in structure yet easy to read

Have you ever heard of Danny Rand, Immortal Iron Fist, Protector of K’un-Lun, Sworn Enemy of the Hand? I think about him a lot. Dear Danny, sorry things haven’t worked out

I think we could all use a little good fortune these days

The acceptance on the back isn’t addressed to me but it made me feel good all the same

[niwiumz]

requiem by a.s.w.

can be found here

Read this while watching To Tell the Truth

I took a class about music history The professor had a module about how today’s “misunderstood artist” archetype could be traced back to the mythologizing of Beethoven This book isn’t about Beethoven but I like bringing it up when I can

I appreciate the formatting of the poems, the line length

Googled “are herons cranes” as I read this*

Thought “big mood” as I read this

It’s so weird to think that inhabited islands will fall underwater if we keep doing as we’re doing

I’m pretty sure the quotations under the images are from the Bible but I’m not sure

(If you’re wondering, yes, the German in the poems translate to the quotations under the images)

I got near the end before going back to re-look at the poems and re-absorb the different apocalypses

Oceans rising, sun dying, drought, rapture?, sun killing, epidemic, robotics

“III. Herr, lehre doch mich” is my favorite. Darkness, cold. I wonder. I wonder.

I wish I could figure out what “IV. Wie lieblich sind deine Wohnungen” is about (dear author, if you’re reading this, please feel free to send me a message explaining)

There is so much work that was put into this book and I’m glad that I read it

This book is like a 80% cocoa chocolate bar imported from France. Unusual. To be savored slowly.

I would like to see more from Ayame

*google says no they are not