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FM Ghost
FM Ghost is a poetic journey of self-discovery and self-acceptance. With a heavy theme of mortality, this debut collection by Denver poet Steve Shultz is both introspective and observational. The book's three sections – Within, Without, and Within (revisited) – explore themes of darkness and light, love and fear, hope and despair, grief and joy, life and death. FM Ghost is about striking a balance in a world of opposites.
142 pages, Paperback
First published April 30, 2013
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
June 20, 2013
I highly recommend this first book of poems from Steve Shultz, for poetry-lovers as well as for those who say they don't "get" poetry. Either way, readers will "get," enjoy, and take something away from this collection.
Steve's poems are stripped down, like a rock song: observational, occasionally acerbic, often melancholy, always perceptive, sometimes employing rhyme (though no formalist, Steve is all-out free verse) to explore an idea, like this:
His tiny hands
just disappear in mine
I've my father's hands
thirty years behind
(from "Shape") "I've my father's hands." Volumes in four words. Volumes, sparsely drawn, truly a gift on each page of FM Ghost. We hope--no, we know, because we trust Steve when we read his words--that these lines are true:
I am not
the smooth sounds of now
I am
a work in progress.
(from "FM Ghost") Who wants the smooth sounds? I prefer rough and true, and Steve Shultz is the real deal. If he's a work in progress, I am looking forward to his next iteration.
memoirs
in an armoire
that no one shall read
(from "Memoirs") Hey, Steve, guess what? We are reading this and you can't stop us!
Steve's poems are stripped down, like a rock song: observational, occasionally acerbic, often melancholy, always perceptive, sometimes employing rhyme (though no formalist, Steve is all-out free verse) to explore an idea, like this:
His tiny hands
just disappear in mine
I've my father's hands
thirty years behind
(from "Shape") "I've my father's hands." Volumes in four words. Volumes, sparsely drawn, truly a gift on each page of FM Ghost. We hope--no, we know, because we trust Steve when we read his words--that these lines are true:
I am not
the smooth sounds of now
I am
a work in progress.
(from "FM Ghost") Who wants the smooth sounds? I prefer rough and true, and Steve Shultz is the real deal. If he's a work in progress, I am looking forward to his next iteration.
memoirs
in an armoire
that no one shall read
(from "Memoirs") Hey, Steve, guess what? We are reading this and you can't stop us!
August 16, 2014
I am a big fan of Steve's poetry, in part because he's not afraid to approach the darker side of life. The two 'Within' sections of the book really grabbed me with particular favorites being
Ascending, Mute, Pastel, A Distant Humming, Tragictories, Floorboards, Backlit, Painkillers and Porcelain Conviction.
I especially loved the line from FM Ghost . . . "rough around the edges of an incomplete circle". That's life right there!
Ascending, Mute, Pastel, A Distant Humming, Tragictories, Floorboards, Backlit, Painkillers and Porcelain Conviction.
I especially loved the line from FM Ghost . . . "rough around the edges of an incomplete circle". That's life right there!
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews