Some Things I Still Can't Tell You: Poems
Ratings7
Average rating4.3
15
Ratings7
Average rating4.3
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER! From Misha Collins, actor, longtime poet, and activist, whose massive online following calls itself his “Army For Good," comes his debut poetry collection, Some Things I Still Can't Tell You. Trademark wit and subtle vulnerability converge in each poem; this book is both a celebration of and aspiration for a life well lived. #1 PUBLISHERS WEEKLY BESTSELLER! USA TODAY Bestseller! This book is a compilation of small observations and musings. It's filled with moments of reflection and a love letter to simple joys: passing a simple blade of grass on the sidewalk, the freedom of peeing outdoors late at night, or the way a hand-built ceramic mug feels when it's full of warm tea on a chilly morning. It's a catalog and a compendium that examines the complicated experience of being all too human and interacting with a complex, confounding, breathtaking world ... and a reminder to stop and be awake and alive in yourself.
Reviews with the most likes.
★ ★ ★ 1/2 (rounded up)
This originally appeared at The Irresponsible Reader.
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A QUICK DISCLAIMER
I really need to come up with a boiler-plate paragraph, or at least a sentence or two for the rare occasions when I read a book of poems: Poetry isn't my thing. I try it every now and then (mostly then), and usually, when I do so, I'm reminded that it's not something I can easily appreciate.
Still, this is my second collection this year. Maybe I'm turning a corner.*
* Probably** not.
**Almost certainly not.
SO, WHY DID I BUY & READ SOME THINGS I STILL CAN'T TELL YOU?
That's easy—my daughter is one of Collins' biggest fans and I knew she'd be raving about it. I thought it'd be nice to have something to talk about.
WHAT'S SOME THINGS I STILL CAN'T TELL YOU ABOUT?
This is a collection of brief (all under two small pages—most less than one) poems by the actor Misha Collins—some are about his wife and their relationship, some about his parents, friends, children, and so on.
A COMMON STRUCTURE
You know how with Sudden Fiction there's a line or two at the end that acts like a punchline? Not necessarily like with a joke, but something that adds a little twist, or a surprise at the end of the story. These poems almost always feature something like that—you're going along reading about a rainy day or something, and then in a line or two it turns into something about missing his wife. Or being a jerk about something. Or thinking about a dead friend. Something to give a little “punch.”
It was common, but even after a couple dozen of them, it didn't stop being effective. And the ones that didn't have it weren't quite as good.
SO, WHAT DID I THINK ABOUT SOME THINGS I STILL CAN'T TELL YOU?
I don't know if they're great art—my instinct is to say no, but what do I know? I do know that they're effective. They capture the feeling, the moment, the whatever Collins is talking about—they're not the kind of poems you have to sit and ponder to dig out the meaning (you probably can dig deeper than I did), you get the payoff immediately.
For me, that's what I want in a poem—a thought (fleeting or otherwise), an impression, a feeling—captured and passed on.
Going by that definition, this collection is a success.
Misha, I just want to tell you that you're a literal angel!
I love this book and this book made me fall in love with Misha even more, maybe more than before. The words that have been written, the way they have been written and how beautiful each moment has been made, has me clutching my heart.
Also, gasped at the mention of Mary Oliver, reminded me of my close friend. She's her favorite author.
5 stars deserved.
