Let the Forest Go: Poems

by Justin Wymer

Let the Forest Go is a memoir in poetic fragments that follows a queer Appalachian's quest for truth as he explores memory, intergenerational trauma, and the rise of authoritarian power. During the turbulent 2016 US presidential election, Justin Wymer experienced a sense of dislocation while teaching English in Spain—where the landscape resembles his home region, but cultures differ deeply. Through letters, poems, and vignettes, this intensely personal and formally inventive work captures his impressions, blending lyric prose and verse to offer a unique examination of belonging.

In this liminal space, time, and environment, Wymer dissects his multifaceted identity as an expat, a gay man raised in a religious, small West Virginia town, a member of a family involved in the opioid epidemic, a mourner caught within Appalachia's poorly understood grieving rites, and a human witness to ecological devastation. By searching for beauty amid past and present destruction, Let the Forest Go attempts to embody queerness through fluctuating form and interrogates whether memory, being unavoidably fictional, is a viable source of inspiration.

135 pages, Paperback

Published May 12, 2026

Reviews

[Bruce E · Rating 5 out of 5]

The lyrical, experimental language is the main appeal here, but read closely and this edited transcript of a journal kept during a challenging period in the writer’s life—teaching abroad while things melt down at home—bears witness to the disassociation, helplessness, and frustration that come with living in chaotic times. Family problems back in West Virginia, lingering issues around queer identity, and a growing political crisis as Trump comes to power the first time serve as backdrops to this labyrinth of memory, mythology and movement. At times challenging, yet always breathtaking in its originality and beauty, this book bears witness to someone facing issues so many of us share.