Exits by Stephen C. Pollock Poetry Collection Review

Absolutely beautiful. During the first poem I was worried I wouldn't like this, that maybe the author was the type of poet who just writes poems to hear the sound of his own voice, but then by the end of the poem when it took what I felt was a sympathetic turn towards the spider I figured there might be something here, and boy am I glad I stuck with it.

My favorite poems in the collection are: Leaves (for Shinayo Matsumoto) (which was a beautiful memorial poem), Zombie Fires, War Crimes (which disturbed me greatly), Ash (simple yet beautiful), Spine of Dorian Gray, and Oak.

The photos and art accompanying the poems was special too but truly the voice and sensibility on display here and the lens through which Pollock chooses his subjects, what values, fears, and musings seem worth writing about to him, is the true specialty. There is something immensely relatable and nostalgic, maybe comforting, about his voice even when I think the subject matter is disturbing or ugly, there's a sensibility and vocabulary choice there I find really understandable, relatable, and immediately familiar.

Glad I picked this up. Thanks to NetGalley.

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