WARBLES

A poetry editor opens up his own writing notebook in this debut collection.

Salinas is the poetry editor for the San Antonio Review, so his poems about the writing process are particularly adroit and thoughtful because his job requires him to think so intensively about craft. Some of his works are pat and practical—straight talk for young authors looking to make it. For example, one of his “21 tips to better writing” reads, “Submit your work only when absolutely, 100% ready / Don’t pull the trigger, / unless you’re prepared to kill.” Another suggests, “Read your work out loud. Don’t like your voice? / Get over it,” which is perhaps better advice than it is poetry. Elsewhere, Salinas’ tone is less pragmatic and more searching: “What writing poetry feels like in three haikus” begins, “Lord, it goddamn kills / Me making sense of this page, / Making it sing, squeal.” Here, the author opens up about his own writing process and the challenges that come with it, and his candor pays off. When Salinas leaves behind such artistic questions, though, his verse wanders widely; there are poems about love, about work, about family. His tone is conversational, even colloquial, and most of the time, this characteristic makes his poetry eminently readable and admirably digestible. The charming “Fallback” opens, “Had a great idea / for a poem tonight. / Took a shower, / brushed my teeth, / hopped in bed, / then forgot it. / So I’ll tell you instead / about morality, / according to my godfather.” The poet’s light humor and his casual honesty may make one miss the fine quality of his verse—the balance of his lines and the careful choices that make up his diction. When he makes something hard look easy, it’s a pleasure to watch.

Deft musings on writing and life from a promising talent.