The idea of a pyschological thriller in verse certainly intrigued me – what a great premise! I like the formatting used in this book, the poet uses both verse and imagery alongside clever use of space to keep the reader guessing. The imagery that Roberts uses is strong and at times chilling.
The black car
Swallowing your body
its metal jaws
like Cerberus
Dragging you away from me
To hell
The poet has cleverly interspersed two sections, about her, and me These later change to the girl, a child, and me. We jump from events, grief, to poems more of an internal monologue style. It’s clever, and it works. It means that when you read this it flows almost like a prose poem, weaving two narratives, the outer and the inner, the grief of losing someone, the wonder of meeting someone new, and you find yourself drawn in.
You say his name in reverence
Joy bubbling from your lips
As you tell me about the man
Who captured you first
This poetry collection is skilfully woven and gets steadily darker, showing a story unfolding of stalking, fear and more. The narrative flows effortlessly, through the view of the character. It’s excellent. I hope to see more from this poet in the future, or in fact prose. I suspect they would be able to put together an excellent yarn in prose! 5 very well deserved stars from me.
