So, speaking of words, why the title of Abider? When I see that word I always think of that movie with Jeff Bridges, The Big Lebowski, and the phrase it made popular, “The dude abides.” He accepts life as it comes at him. He endures. You intuit something of that attitude in Melissa Crowe.
Tag: poetry
A review of Rupture Anthem by Hera Naguib
The poems in Rupture Anthem chronicle one woman’s quest for personal independence in the face of so many obstacles. The daughter of Pakistani foreign workers in Saudi Arabia, she experiences both sexual repression from strict patriarchal Islamic clerics, in educational settings, and the exploitation of migrant workers that her family endures.
A review of Shelf Life by Hemat Malak
Shelf Life is a finely written book, so polished and confident in its voice that it’s difficult to believe it’s Hemat Malak’s first collection. The work balances a self-reflection that feels very human and open with a wry expansiveness that isn’t afraid to laugh, cry, or reinvent itself.
The Zingers of Adam Sedia and the Voice of Ancient Egypt: 3 books by Adam Sedia
Sedia has the unique gift of employing what I call “Zingers”— a combination or interplay or juxtaposition of words which are so unique and unusual (and unusually good) that they just pop out at you. Not only is Sedia a careful, measured poet with extremely fine and precise diction, but he manages to combine commonly-used words in uncommon ways in addition to the “Zingers”, which elevate his writing to a whole new level.
A review of In Common Things by Jefferson Singer
Shining gems of individual phrases adorn every page, yet the meanings of the entirety of some of the poems eluded this knucklehead reviewer … until reaching the final three pages of Notes. Consider bookmarking those Notes, to refer to them either before or immediately after reading each poem.
A review of Dreamboat by Jeffrey Skinner
We enter the collection meeting the speaker as he experiences a bout of insomnia during a river cruise in Germany. The Rhine River transforms into a pack of stampeding dogs of various breeds. Logic does not rule—the poems are untethered, capable of moving anywhere at any moment.
A review of Oppression by Judith Skillman
Judith Skillman’s Oppression contains language—rich, allusive, and whip-smart, filled with mordant humor—that is easy enough to parse. What makes the poems so difficult, so oppressive, however, is the profound and wrenching emotional weight they carry.
A review of Sad City by Craig Kite
Kite is a poet, musician and actor and has worked as a journalist and in human rights domestically and all over the world. All of these experiences inform his writing and bring an authenticity, edge and poignancy to the work.
A review of Katabasis by Paul Juhasz
Juhasz exhibits his intimate but troubled relationship with words throughout the book. His katabasis consists of lived experience. Words cannot do it justice, yet they provide necessary tools to make meaning. Juhasz writes in a literary register, typically employing sentence syntax and grammatical subordination instead of compressed poetic lines.
A review of Defensible Spaces by Michael F Drummy
Melancholy, haunting, wistful on the sad end of the spectrum — content, confident, wise. This is 
Michael Drummy’s new collection of bittersweet poems, Defensible Spaces. The silly years of youth have passed, and the late summer flowers are waving. Sobriety is our watchword as twilight approaches. The poet’s eye is taking it all in.