Horror So Real: Melancholia is a collection of dark poetry reflecting on real-life horrors

 

Melancholia: A Book of Dark Poetry

Sumiko Saulson

Bludgeoned Girls Press, 2024

Ebook, 95 ppg.

ISBN: 979-8990327719

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Collections of dark poetry can be about anything. They can be poems that are truly dark and disturbing, or they could be poems of dark things found in the real world. For Melancholia: A Book of Dark Poetry by Sumiko Saulson, it is both. Here readers will find dark poems of fictional creatures as well as dark poems about truly horrific events and goings-on that are in the real world, both past and present.

 

Not all of the poems in this book are dark, however. “The Doormouse Is Dreaming” is a cute poem. With descriptions of “Blankets and pillows/All covered with down” and “shallow waters puddle-wide.” I can almost picture the Doormouse dreaming while asleep, comfortably reclined on “handknit doilies.”

 

“The Child on the Lawn” was a sad poem to read. It reminded me of Tamir Rice, the 12-year-old shot and killed by police when he was playing with a fake gun at a park. This poem is so profound, with lines like “Were there tears in his eyes/When he held his head down?” and “Now he's walking the streets/Though the guilty may hide/Their sanity is unwound/By the sound of his/Telltale Heartbeat.”

 

I loved how the poems “Replika, My Ex” and “Faceborg” explore our addiction with the internet/smartphones. Some of that addiction can be pretty terrifying, and there are no holds barred in these poems. These poems also touch on things many people fixated with this connection to artificial technology would understand.

 

I also liked the poems “The Queen of Death, Perplexed” and “The Melancholic Eye” and “Coachella Ghost.”

 

Many of the poems in this book are about real-life horrors as well as fictional horrors. Some of them are personal, while others are imaginative and dark. All of them are good poems and I enjoyed reading them.

 

Melancholia: A Book of Dark Poetry is an entertaining, thought-provoking collection of poetry that will leave readers with a sense of trepidation. Some of these poems will make readers think, while others offer reminders of how we cannot allow the injustices taking place in our society to continue. These poems are both haunting and depressing, leaving the reader with a lingering sense that perhaps it is time to do more to create change.

 

 

 

Five stars

 

 

 

 

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

“Those magic waves”: Turn Your Back on the Shore is a collection of poetry celebrating a love for surfing and love of life

 

Turn Your Back on the Shore: The Surf Poetry Collection by Scott Rosin

Scott Rosin

Independently Published, 2023

ISBN: 9798378904563

Ebook, 176 ppg.

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Have you ever had the opportunity to ride the waves with a surfboard? If so, and even if you haven’t, get ready to be out on those waves in the poetry collection Turn Your Back on the Shore: The Surf Poetry Collection by Scott Rosin. This collection of poems captures the magic and freedom of surfing, where everyone is equal and the waves make no judgment. The sea can sometimes be harsh, demanding, or cruel, but surfers understand her in a way no landlubber ever will, and love her in spite of it all.

 

I really liked the poem “Arrival.” It is a long poem but I was hanging on every word. It really drew me in and kept me reading. It’s a great poem! I especially liked these lines:

 

“When the big swells come

we walk the rock trail

down to the water

the old ocean beckons

surging and swelling

bawdy and flirting

crazy with power” (Page 12)

 

This particular poem really captures the surfer’s mindset, how the surfer will be “measuring ourselves/assessing strengths/shoring up weakness” (page 11) and when they take to the waves, “we are not the men/we were on the shore/no longer workers/husbands or fathers.” (Page 13)

 

I also loved reading the poem “Grom,” which talks about the author’s earliest fascination with surfing via his sister’s neglected surfboard. It’s no surprise to learn that, as a parent, he has instilled the same love for surfing into his offspring. In the poem “Vestiges” (another long poem, which I enjoyed reading), he talks about one morning when he and his son head out to go surfing. And then, when they are out on the sea surfing:

 

“We don't talk much on the water

my boy and I

the sea is not for chitchat

mundane nattering

 

The sea is its own endless poem

each canto

a rustling tide for the senses” (Page 27)

 

I also enjoyed reading the story in verse of “Smokey and Kit.” Yeah, there’s a lesson to be learned there. I understood the message: That surfers may HATE having to be away from the water for their jobs and responsibilities, but as much as they hate it, it makes the experience of being back out there on the water and surfing again all that much more sweeter and euphoric.

 

The other poems are about life, surfers come and gone, conversations with people as well as his personal relationships. They are all good poems and I enjoyed reading every one of them. As I read some of the poems that shared the magic of being out on the water – just you and a surfboard – I began to understand the meaning behind the title Turn Your Back on the Shore. It is on the shore where the real world is – life and all of its hardships, responsibilities and problems – but out on the water, all of that is gone. There’s no discussion about work or financial problems, no whining or drama, and no status or labels. To turn your back on the shore is to embrace surfer life and to answer the call of the water.

 

Turn Your Back on the Shore is an entrancing collection of poems that will sweep readers away right out onto the water with the surfer, where worries don’t exist and there is only the love of the ocean. The poems in this book celebrate the love of surfing and how the experience of surfing can add fulfillment to anyone’s life.

 

 

Five stars

 

 

 

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

They Sold Their Souls to the Devil: And All the Little Soldiers Fall in Line is a collection of poems reflecting on a corrupt American government as well as life and parenthood

 

 

And All the Little Soldiers Fall in Line: Poems and Tales

Andrew Buckner

Requiem Press, 2025

ISBN: 9798280508118

Ebook, 113 ppg.

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If there’s one thing that can be said about Andrew Buckner the poet, it’s that he is not afraid to speak the truth in his writing. Here, in his newest collection of poetry and tales, his poems speak boldly about politics, life and parenthood. The politics angle is one I have noticed many writers and publishers are avoiding, but I’m glad there are still writers out there willing to write the TRUTH about the shitshow that is our American government in their writing.

 

I enjoyed reading all of the poems as well as the tales in this book. Some of the poems really stood out for me.

 

The title poem “And All The Little Soldiers Fall In Line” stands out among them all. Reading this poem reminded me of just how lost our government is, caving in to the demands of a tyrannical president who punishes them if he doesn’t get his way. These lines especially captures that notion:

 

“and all the

little soldiers

fall in line

 

to do the

american king’s

hateful bidding” (pg. 1)

 

Hateful indeed. A LOT of the actions of our current president are examples of his war against the American people, not to mention marginalized groups he is trying to erase from this country.

 

Another poem that I liked was one that also hit home with me: “(Irretrievably) Out The Window.” This poem talks about how we exchange portions of our lives for jobs that earn money that, just as our time does, just as this part of our life does, goes “right out the window.” We work for money that disappears just like that because of mortgages, repairs, kids, medical needs, food, etc., thus making us having to work more in order to earn more money, which will disappear again. It’s a vicious cycle.

 

The poem “Sorry, Kids, Or The Final Curtain Call” is such a powerful poem. Especially this part:

 

“Sorry, kids,

we couldn’t give you a better future.

 

We voted with our hate

and not our head.” (pg. 91)

 

And All the Little Soldiers Fall in Line is a collection of poems that captures the current state of our government as well as snippets from the author’s life and his observations. They’re the kind of poems that make you think, wonder, look back and, hopefully, take action to fight for the kind of future we want our children to have.

 

Five stars.

 

 

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.