Red Rover, Red Lover by Preston Smith
Roaring Junior Press, 2020
The world is in a terrifying yet beautiful place. In the here and now, when there are still so many unknowns, we need art to let us know we aren’t alone. We need visual art, we need poetry, we need music, and we need to know that we are heard. If you’re wanting to feel, to be heard, to be seen, you need to read Red Rover, Red Lover by Preston Smith.
Red Rover, Red Lover takes you on a high-adrenaline journey through the clever yet familiar theme of Greek and Roman mythology. The very first poem, “A God of Oracle and Light,” dives headfirst into vivid imagery that tosses readers directly into a nostalgic field: “I read myths of the man tied to the sun / that bathes my neighbor’s farm / every morning, I hide behind bales of hay, pretend to be a kid again.” The reason I personally love these lines so much is that I can see them so clearly in my mind’s eye. Having grown up in the country, I’ve hidden behind bales of hay, read strange myths of men and suns. The language used is peculiar enough to catch your attention yet relatable enough to remain grounded. That’s another theme of Smith’s writing—the careful balance of the strange and the real. It’s a very difficult balance to achieve consistently, but Smith manages it with evocative language.
Evocative. I use that word because it captures a lot of Smith’s writing. There are times you’ll think, “Oh,” and peek around to make sure your parents don’t see what you’re reading. That’s something I find so powerful as a reader. As an example, in “Apollo the First,” Smith compares a first lover (which calls back to the chapbook’s title) to the myth of Apollo: “You grab the silver cross / around my neck and bite. / I ride your chariot, / scream the name of the oracle.” Vivid, powerful, raw, and, yes, evocative. I almost blushed reading this, and it’s rare a poem that can create those kinds of feelings.
Smith’s writing is full of moments like this, though—full of vulnerability and of honesty, the kind that lets readers connect with Smith as a person. As one more example, Smith shows incredible vulnerability in his poem “Crowded Spaces (After Apollo 12)”: “Crickets retreat to woods unknown; / the sky hacks / like my father slams an empty beer / bottle onto a table. / Dad.” My stomach sank throughout this poem in which Smith’s writing captures the feeling of solemn dread. I felt myself on edge, waiting. I honestly felt so much in this one particular piece that I had to set the book aside after reading and absorb those feelings.
I’ll finish off my review of Red Rover, Red Lover here because I don’t want to spoil any more of Smith’s work. There are so many topics covered, so many feelings captured, and so many myths morphed into a stellar chapbook. You need to read Red Rover, Red Lover, now more than ever.
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Kaleb Tutt, originally from south Louisiana, now lives on the remote land of Prudence Island. His debut chapbook, ir / rational, was released earlier this year by Roaring Jr. Press. Follow him on Twitter at @KalebT96.