The Trouble with Light

by Jeremy Michael Clark

In The Trouble with Light , Jeremy Michael Clark reflects on the legacy of familial trauma as he delves into questions about belonging, survival, knowledge, and self-discovery in unflinching lyrical poems. “Like you,” he writes, “I have . . . [a] history of / hardly caring for my body, of letting / whoever drink their share of me, / thinking it could cure / my fear of dirt.” Whether ruminating on intimacy, lineage, identity, faith, or addiction, Clark’s poems embody a restless, rigorous curiosity. Largely set in the poet’s hometown of Louisville, Kentucky, his portraits of interiority gracefully juxtapose the sorrows of alienation and self-neglect with the restorative power of human connection. In one of the most affectionate—and characteristically ambivalent—poems in the collection, Clark recalls, “For days, doubt struck as does lightning / across the span of night. . . . Love? If it exists, / it’s the uncertainty one feels before a thunderclap, / after the sky’s gone dark again.” A vulnerable and transporting debut, The Trouble with Light is a vital record of how grief can endure, and how we can yet endure ourselves.
 

Genres: Poetry

95 pages, Paperback

Published March 21, 2024

Reviews

[Mya Matteo · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm not just saying this because we have the same poetry parent mentor, the glorious Rigoberto González. But this is so lovely. Am I jealous? Yes.

“if it / takes two to be alone, I don’t know which one I’d rather be: / the one who stayed or the one who walked away.” OOF

[Robyn]

Notables 2024 #166