Book review: "Everything I am not saying" (Poetry)

I read the poetry book: "Everything I am not saying" by Crissi Langwell, and wrote a review. Hope you'll find it useful. 
If you decide to read it, you can find it here. 

I admire Crissi Langwell’s strong poems, and wish to read more of them. I find them beautifully poetic, touching, real and specific.

I didn't like all the poems in this book though. The beginning of the book pulled me in with many amazing dazzling metaphors (a lot more about that, below), human connections and situations. But then came a few poems which didn't intrigue me as much (for ex: small, white blossoms, fallen knight).

Then "vulnerable" brought me back the style I liked, but I kept feeling disappointed after that. Basically, after 50% of the book has gone, I was disappointed by themes which are repeating, in poems which do not take the metaphor deeply enough to make the repetition interesting. More often than not.

I say this, because to me, Langwell’s strong suit is her deep use of metaphors.

For example, in “Saltwater Taffy”, her choice of focus is very compelling metaphor. She is letting a purple taffy be the core of a relationship which is over, letting the taffy show everything about dealing with, and letting go of that relationship.

She does a similarly good job in “Chocolate covered strawberries” - taking a food item, and using it to liven up a description of a kiss, a description that otherwise might have been corny and boring. She uses every aspect of those chocolate covered strawberries in her poem - their colors, their taste, and more.

Some of the subjects in the book: Love, specifically lost love, which had to be let go of.

The kiss is explored in many poems. Through deep complex metaphors, and simpler poems - Crissi Langwell digs in to this human way of contact: kissing.

Other subjects to be found in the book: A few short and light poems with self humor about some issues (ex: writing, god).

Some poems include descriptions of family life, children, routine.  

More about a few strong poems, and what made them strong:

In “Because I Fell”, she starts with a poem structure, and transfers to a short prose paragraph at the end of the poem. I’m fascinated by the specific plot-like situation described at the end, by the very transition to prose structure. The connection between the two parts of the poem are there, but mostly left for me (the reader) to figure out. I enjoy that, it sparks my imagination.

In “Words”, words are all around the street, with and around the little details of reality, active and passive in a way that only poetry can make them be.

In “Frail”, I can definitely feel that the poet is coming from storytelling (so Crissi Langwell tells about herself). Her writing includes characters, and a little bit of a plot, combined with poeticness. I find this to be fascinating: the specificness, and reality of places, things, and people described. There is normally a ‘first person’ (“I” / “me”) describing the scene, involved and affected personally by the events - and that adds to the hold the poems have on me.

#bookreview