Book Review #19

 These Are The Breaks

By Idris Goodwin

    You think you know poetry, don't you? You think all your rhyming couplets or numbered lines make poems. You think a certain structure makes you a certified "poetry lover" as you scroll on social media to find the pictures of poetry. I'm going to be honest with y'all; that's not all poetry has to offer.

    I've know of Idris Goodwin for a while now. I believe I have even delved into other works of his on this blog. This particular collection really stuck with me, however. This kind of work really does sneak up on you. It started out as very light, very amusing, and I thought I was in for one of his more easy-going collections where I can ignore the world and reality for a bit. 

    I should know better. I should know that as much as Goodwin's pieces are fun, they are heavy. 

    This books definitely crashed the reality of others' worlds on me hard. I will admit that the slice of life I have is fairly safe, fairly comfortable, and fairly free from a lot of the passive aggressive things that other people have to deal with. I feel like most of that is my doing (and also that some people can learn to have this kind of life since they seem to want it so bad), but I acknowledge that some of this stuff is also outside of someone's control. With that in mind, Goodwin does not let me (or any reader/listener of his work) forget that there are other worlds out there. Other slices of life where things are very different and more difficult to traverse through.

    I'm glad he does this. I'm glad that he wakes up everyone to everyone else's worlds every time he publishes. Because we all need that. 

    So thank you for waking me up again, Goodwin. I will remember to read your work again if I find myself dozing off again.