Between Us

by Holly Wren Spaulding

Poetry chapbook by Holly Wren Spaulding.

34 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2022

Reviews

[Keith Taylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Chapbook of 15 short poems, some of them obviously written during the pandemic. Spaulding reaches out to friends in a style reminiscent of letters (remember them?) to make and sustain her connections with other people. The language is strong and simple, unadorned. As always with Spaulding's poems, I get the sense that each word, each line, has been given time to develop and enter into the poet's mind and imagination. These are not poems to read quickly.

I think this is an aesthetic that works particularly well in chapbooks. This kind of poem might start feeling a bit repetitive in a larger book, but here, in a well chosen collection, it seems almost perfect.

[Dave Russo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a warm collection of letter poems, from the dedication to the acknowledgments! Many poems are filled with the gentle energy and familiar fondness of one friend reaching out to another. Others are more complex. The lines, images, and diction are straightforward and clear, but they express a range of emotions and relationships--with calmness, no angsty flailing about, no forced cleverness, no rushing over things out of habit or fear.