I quite enjoyed this book of poetry. A lot of the imagery and symbolism was very fresh, making for evocative and interesting poems that kept my interest throughout the whole collection. There were a couple things about this collection that really stood out to me-- I was very drawn in by the foreword, which was the story of the two notebooks that the poetry came from. The second thing of note was the titles of the poems: they were often unexpected in ways that made you spend more time on each poem, helping direct you to see new and interesting levels of meaning that you otherwise would probably not know to seek out.

Lipscomb’s poetry is striking. Many poems land with something like an emotional punch. Even those that I may not have connected with, or enjoyed, contain an element, a line, or something that stood out. Especially striking is the foreword, and the open discussion of his process, his reliance on his notebooks. As a teacher, this is something I’d definitely share with my students - it’s revelatory and inspiring. One of the greatest strengths of these poems, however, is their titles. Each title demands you read the poem, just to see how the poem expands on that idea. Of course, it’s not always the case that that happens, but that’s okay, as the titles often serve as tiny poems of their own. Lipscomb’s first collection of poetry guarantees that you’ll be watching for more of his work.