Thoughts from Inside the Jungle

it feels almost wrong to rate this book on such an arbitrary scale, especially after reading the poem “Why I Write.” i tried to stick with my usual scale. if a book is okay, i give three stars. if it's something good, four stars, and if it changed my life and i know i'll read it again and again, five.
anyway, being critical, which i try to do with these, Kindra Reiter is a good writer. Definitely look her up on instagram.

i can't. i cannot just be critical. “Island Life” was the first poem in this book to ring a bell in my heart that kept tolling. it hit something that made me cry and my eyes are still red as i write this. there are some poems in this book that are take-or-leave (oddly like Bukowski, only much less rough and gross; keeping in mind i like Bukowski, but i get people who don't), but the poems that hit, hit hard. they strike you through with sincerity and a mind like a wave that crashes and smoothes out and then crashes again. this is what poetry is meant to be, no matter the form it takes. i will always appreciate writing that is elegant, or new, or just weird, but i will remember writing that breaks my heart and puts it back together.