Love/session

by Dan Tarnowski

Poetry

Download this free e-book at:
http://dtarnowski.com/lovesession.

The idea for Love/session came about when Dan started writing down his peripheral feelings, giving form to those sometimes embarrassing and silly head-spaces, instead of whisking them into some darker cranny. While the poet’s original intent was to get his head straight by pumping some of the excess glitter from the cathedral of his heart, the poetry became a conduit for indulging in arguably even more sweeping fantasies of city majesty, and warm pinings for love as light as air.

Dan has been writing poetry since 2004, when thoughts first started entering his head, influenced by writers like Salinger, Joyce, Bradbury, Orwell, and more. Writing to him was originally a form of journal. Maintaining that original want for freeness of expression, a therapeutic quality has endured in his artwork, whether it be poetry, drawing, or music.

Dan has written two other chapbooks of poetry, ‘PAINT FADES’ and ‘DID YOUR CULTURE KICK YOU OUT??’

ebook

First published December 15, 2014

Reviews

[John Winston · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a really good book of poetry. It could be easily read in one sitting and setting, but I recommend reading it over a period of time, even better one poem in the morning several times and another in the evening, again several times as needed for your daily dosage of proper poetry.

[Jason · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the scraping of bones, the sobbing radiator, the creaking of springs in the psychotherapy waiting room. Self-examined to shreds and pricked by safety pin reassembly. Less than acute and yet instantly recognizable.

[Mike Parish · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great e-chapbook from a great writer. Dan Tarnowski always makes me feel something when I read his work, (Paint Fades, another Tarnowski penned title put out by the mysterious Lack of Press imprint, is my personal favorite). Love/session forces you to remember things about yourself which you might want to have kept buried, and judging by the synopsis, this kind of self-examination seems to be one of the author's reasons for writing the chapbook. There's a lot of instances throughout this chapbook regarding love lost and the ensuing loneliness, which as I get older, I am beginning to understand the weight of more and more. Any piece of art that brings loneliness to the forefront and questions it, I think, is an important one. I have always found Tarnowski's work to be inspiring, vivid, imaginative and distinct, (there are too many quotable lines in this chapbook), and I know in a moment of listlessness, I can pull up Love/session and get myself moving in whatever direction I need to be moving again.

"I want your warmth
As I’m scratched deeply by hurt
And my hurt is hardened and cracked
Like church pews excavated from a fire"

[Maranda Russell · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an enjoyable poetry collection. On one hand, it is filled with images and concrete ideas that appeal to the senses, yet it isn't overly intellectual or pretentious. For the most part, I found the poems easy to relate to and understand, which is one of the most important things to me when seeking poetry to read. This is definitely a contemporary free verse collection, but it also uses classic thoughts and images in places without being full of cliche. Overall, I really liked the book and would encourage others to give it a try. I particularly enjoyed some of the shorter minimalistic poems (like "The sky", "Waiting" and "Don't know what to do").

[Scott Whitney · Rating 4 out of 5]

At first, I was not liking this book. The poetry seemed a little stark and the language was a little bitter to my taste. Then I could not help but understand what was inside, it and me. By the time I finished reading this collection, I was getting ideas on what to do with my school's writing guild and really liking the poetry. I will have to reread this collection when I am a different person.