Iain S. Thomas
Central Avenue Publishing,
Nov 1, 2017, release date
Kindle, 320 Pages
Also available in hardcover, audiobook
Genre(s) poetry
Source author’s rep
My Disclaimer:
I was provided a complimentary copy of this book. I am voluntarily providing an honest review in which all opinions are fully my own. I am not being compensated in any way.
~ Judi E. Easley for Blue Cat Review
What it’s about…
This is the collected poems by Iain S. Thomas over a decade. They deal with the sense of loneliness and the attempt to connect with another, to reach out and touch another soul, another being. To not be empty.
There are approximately 400 poems in this collection. Each has a date. Some go for several pages and some barely cover several lines. Only the ones written for you will speak to you.
There are also images incorporated into the collection. Some of them relate directly to the poem they are with, others do not.
Technical Tidbits…
The cover of handwritten text on an abstract background is quite appropriate for this book. It’s not exactly eye-catching, but it is appropriate. Something bright and cheery or terribly formatted would have been very incongruent to the subject and presentation of the work within the book.
Writing Quality of poetry is difficult to evaluate unless you are going to look at the technical aspect of it. Freeform does not lend itself to that approach. And this is certainly freeform.
The good, the bad, and the ugly…and how much it lit up my life… ✰✰✰⭒
I sat and read this whole book in one sitting, from the first page all the way to the last. I read every poem and looked at every photo. So poems I read more than once, and there are some I highlighted for future reference.
There are about 400 poems in this collection. It’s hard to count them accurately with the way they are written in parts of the ARC I have. Less than 10%, about 1/12, actually only 36 of the poems had meaning for me out of those 400-ish poems. No, that’s not a majority, but it is a lot of poems. It’s a whole lot of words. And I found a lot of meaning in those words. Some of the poems sounded like what my friends and I used to write when we were younger and traded our journals to share our work. The angst of youth. The work seemed fairly youthful to me with a good flow of thought. There was good imagery in a lot of it. There was also a lot of insight into the human condition of pain at parting and the pain generally found in relationships. The pain of loneliness when alone is empty.
I want to share a poem from this collection with you:
The First Day On Earth
Monday, July 30, 2012
Firstly, you need to relax. I know it’s not as warm as it once was but you get used
to the cold and warmth can be found in the people around you.
Secondly, do not
Get used to crying to get things. Some people never grow out of
it. Avoid them.
Spend time around people who smile in the face of despair.
Learn from them all
you can. Everyone is a lesson. A story. A unique and wondrous
perspective on
the chaos that is human existence. The more people you talk to,
the more you
understand it. But never speak if you have the opportunity to
listen. Especially
if you want someone to like you. There’s nothing you can say
that’ll endear
someone to you as much as really and truly listening to them.
You are on day
one of a sometimes remarkable, sometimes terrible, sometimes
beautiful, strange
and always completely unknown journey. Be ok with this.
Worrying about what
happens next will ruin the surprise. You will meet strange
people along the way,
some good, some bad. This is a pattern that will more than likely
repeat constantly as you grow up. Some things will be good,
some things will be bad. Neither
will ever last forever. Nothing will stay the same. Appreciate
every moment of
happiness and remember it when you despair. Hold them close.
And when you are happy, remember the moments of despair
and think to yourself, “I told you so.”
Never let someone else define you. You are your own creation
and only you decide how you feel, who you are and what you
want. This can be scary at first but it is
liberating to truly and utterly embrace your own identity. People
who hate you for
not being like them are not worth hating back. Please, let go of
hate whenever you can. Accept love whenever it is given and
give it out freely. It is the most powerful
force on Earth.
Enjoy your stay.
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