Billeh Nickerson

Billeh Nickerson is really hit or miss for me. I admire his writing, he does stark well, he does honest well, he does sexy well. There are two or three poems in this collection that I absolutely love and recommend to all. He's the antidote to people who constantly quote Neruda and Rumi at you.

But sometimes we miss, and I read through a poem without any interest or attachment. Thus goes the last third of this book. So I don't know, how do you rate a collection? The average amount of joy from the whole, or that one brilliant piece you don't want to live without, now you've read it? I guess the answer is, whatever I rate this, I'll pick up his next work without hesitation.… (meer)

Think you don’t like poetry? Scarred by Wordsworth’s daffodils in school?

Scared you’ll be expected to parse or diagram or do something equally mind-boggling with the words that make up a poem?

Then you should definitely check out these poems.

They’re funny, sweet, and sad.

They’re observant, flippant and poignant.

Ever worked in fast-food? Ever eaten fast-food? Ever heard of fast-food?

If you’ve answered yes to any of these questions, you should give this one a try.

I’m positive that I’d’ve missed it but I’m so glad that I didn’t: sign me up for everything else he’s written.

I read this one because I was encouraged by an interview on CBC's The Next Chapter; if you want to know about some of the other titles I've enjoyed that they've recommended, I bookchat about some others here.… (meer)