Touchingly, the act of writing at times here offers a brief respite from daily life—“I cast no shadow // as i slowly // close my eyes // and fade // into words”—while some poems, like “whiskey” and “adoration,” favor playfulness over depth. Those same offerings also demonstrate Conway’s poetic range, from the lofty intellectual verses to drinking songs, delivering moments of levity amid the earnest, leaden poems that speak of the grave as a temptation or last hope. “The citrus pain of recollection” is too much to bear in “empty canvas,” and in “whisper me to sleep,” the speaker begs “o, lord,... lay me down in juniper // whisper me to sleep.”
Conway begins with a nod to “light transitioning to dark,” a thoughtful contemplation that threads throughout the collection, as themes such as grief and longing ricochet across the pages. In “fragrant memories,” the speaker is “left haunted by the ghost of // lonely fragrant memories // …as the light flickers,” yet that grief is born of an enduring love, proof of a life well-lived. Conway resurrects that powerful imagery while striving to cross the threshold of life, through entropy uniting, once again, with nature, “grasping for meaning or a lack thereof // reminded of that dream i once called love.”
Takeaway: Searching, metaphor-rich collection plumbing cycles of life, death, love, and grief.
Comparable Titles:Pierra Calasanz-Labrador’s Dear Universe, Donald Hall.
Production grades
Cover: A-
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: A
Marketing copy: A-
