Don't let the slim silhouette of this book fool you: it is jam-packed with bleed-on-the-page raw emotion, blanketed in a variety of poetic and literary technique, written in an accessible format that is deceptively complex in its simplicity.

Aikin has taken the excruciating shallowness of Instagram poetry, stripped it of its fortune-cookie failings, and rebuilt the style in a way that blends the contemporary form with poetic foundations that creates not only a useful rendition of the concept, but blends it with a voice that is uniquely Norb. No, I'm not saying this is Instagram poetry. I'm saying Norb has captured what modern readers want, blended it with what poetry readers expect, and created a fresh take on the whole lot of it. A literary hat-trick, if you will.

Stylistically, there is a particular way that Aiken nails his words to the page. With fresh turns-of-phrase, detailed word selection, and attention to the lyrical nature of the rise and fall of his line length and vocablulary choices, he provides the reader with something quite special. It reads well on the page, and it reads even better aloud. This is the type of collection an author would do well to present as spoken word - his writing style, rooted in musicality, takes the sharp noise of the Beastie Boys at their best, blends it with the cerebral musings of The Tragically Hip, and adds the darkest bits of Radiohead, Pearl Jam, hell, there's even some Tom Waits in there. There's certain more influence than I could identify - but at the end of the day, it's a collection that highlights Aikin's vast array of musical influences while remaining true to himself. Spoken word, man. I'm telling ya.

Can I gush that every poem in the collection is my new absolute-die-for fan-girl favourite? No, and would be false praise to do so. I think there are a few misses in the group, and in fairness they probably stand out more against the ones he's knocked out of the park. In further fairness, some of that falls on the editor who, in my opinion, would have served Aiken better to point out the few pieces - that while not inherently bad - didn't stand up against the heavy hitters contained in the collection. It's not a problem with Aiken's overall body of work, and even the poetic greats had a few that weren't quite up to snuff for various reasons. I docked half a star for it, and like all things poetry, you might love what I might not, and vice-versa.

Overall, a great debut from a dedicated poet, with a classic understanding of a very modern form.

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Created Dec 01, 2019 at 1:39pm • Submit your own review...