AND LIFE REMAINS

In his first volume of poetry, Piper covers a wide swath of emotional and philosophical territory, documenting his thoughts and feelings along the way.

Reading the book’s end passage, a quote from Charles Bukowski, readers immediately understand what they’re getting into: “If you’re losing your soul and you know it, then you’ve still got a soul left to lose.” Piper’s sporadic and textured imagery (“it’s the insides of your pupils that dilate next to me”) is not the only element that makes this book compelling. With this volume of rhyming poetry, it’s as though the author is operating a telescopic lens, zooming in and out from the sacred to the literal, capturing a range of human emotion and thought. As he explains in a brief introduction, “This book is a representation of what is for the reader to decide. People discern words for the meanings they want for themselves.” Piper asks the abstract “meaning of life and love and loss” questions, then closes in on the three-dimensional world to explore the more dissonant aspects of society and humanity, while criticizing things like television and war. With simple language applied to universal themes, the author is a romantic, creating verse that’s accessible to any reader. Still, the work never strays too far from the specifics of his personal experience and ideas. In “Obstacle,” he writes, “Our ancestors didn’t think about / Corporations / and / Cars / What were their dreams? / Were they as materialistic as ours?” In a piece titled “Throne,” he holds up a mirror before a self-righteous snob, yet ironically (showing the work’s complexity), the accuser’s voice comes off as equally self-righteous: “You act like / You’re better than everyone else / Chances are / You don’t even know yourself.” Who among us will have trouble relating? The readers’ sympathetic feelings will connect them with the meaning of these words and ultimately the poet.

Earnest and literal, Piper’s heart is on his sleeve.