Whiskey Words & a Shovel by R.H. Sin
Publication Date: June 7, 2016
Publisher: Andrews McMeel Publishing
Reviewing Whiskey Words & a Shovel is a different task from all of my previous reviews. It’s a book of poetry and while I love poetry, both to read and write, I am frequently intimidated by the act of critiquing reviewing it (yes, I used to belong to a poetry workshop and did critiquing so that might have been a slip of the er keyboard).
These days my favorite poet is Mary Oliver and I buy or get on loan any offering of hers. Her poetry seems simple, but there is always that word or phrase that makes you jump as if you were about to be bitten by a snake. It’s simple, but deceptive. The reason why I mention this is because R.H. Sin’s poems are also simple and I don’t mean that in a derogatory way. The wording is simple. The meaning is simple. They can be inspirational. They can dwell in angst. What they lack, that just separates them significantly from Mary Oliver’s poems, is that moment of “aha.”
For some reason as I was reading, I remembered a book of poetry I found by Rod McKuen who was evidently extremely popular in the late 60’s and early 70’s. His poems were very sincere. And, I guess I felt that way about this collection.
I feel that these are the kinds of poems you might read during a difficult relationship or after a break-up. You will relate to these poems then. There are some common truths here: you will be feeling bad a lot, awake, and he will be asleep. This is kind of heart-wrenching and I guess that this is what this book embodies for me. Many truths about relationships, whether they are good or bad. I guess I wish that there was something more, that elusive “aha” that gives it all sense. But maybe with relationships, most of it’s already been said, because we do dwell on it. Maybe instead of “ahas” we have straightforward.
from read closely
you miss the person you thought
he was
you’re in love with everything
he used to be
you hold on because your love
is unconditional
you’re up thinking about him
wanting his attention
maybe a text, a call, maybe you
just want to lay up and cuddle
but he’s always doing this
he’s rarely around and it hurts
that’s what keeps you up at
night
you’re hurting right now and
he’s probably asleep
I was given an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
From Amazon: Whiskey Words & a Shovel
review: 
(3 butterflies and a lady bug out of 5 butterflies)