Book Review by Kirby Congdon…….

Don’t Read This Poetry Book

by Edgardo Alvarado-Vazquez

Key West, Fl: Seastory Press, 2016

www.seastorypress.com

ISBN 078-1-936818-36-5

This collection of drawings, obituaries and poems is a compendium, just now published in 2017. The flippant title suggests reticence about being in the public eye. However, as we get into this collection we become more aware of the depth of Mr. Vazquez’s life. There are references to Berlin, to the avantgarde artist, Keith Haring,  to the poet Rilke, to family, the Spanish language and to relationships among close friends who, in the language of poetry, come and go. Illustrations provoke inquiries about their connection to a poem on an adjacent page and become of particular interest as when an opening account of working with a press shows a view of a gigantic machine. The writer provokes trust and confidence in the reader.. As Sheri Lohr, the publisher, says, “Edgardo pencils words and images on paper that  spring from the pages with mouths full of teeth.”

The reader can see a style of writing and a personality that handles both critical and reflective ideas. After twenty-five years of reviewing poetry books for The Small Press Review, this reader noticed a comfortable facility in the use of the English language. We look forward to the continuation of his commitments to the literary life.