I STILL HAVE NOTHING TO SAY…SO I WRITE

Skoby follows up his book I Have Nothing To Say, but I'm Going To Say It Anyway (2018) with a collection that largely revisit the same concepts.

In this loosely connected assortment of reflections, meditations, and advice, mostly in poetic form, the author attempts to wax philosophical on various well-worn themes, including nature, aging, the passage of time, friendship, and gratitude. His sentiments are admirable, but his execution too often lacks finesse. Skoby’s style leans heavily on rhyming couplets, occasionally to the detriment of meter or flow, although the author doesn’t stick to specific structures. The vocabulary tends toward the simplistic, with several instances of the same rhyme in several pieces; the combination of “trees” and “breeze,” for instance, shows up in no less than eight poems. Rhymes can sometimes feel clumsy or forced: “Into the water, the lake comes alive, / ducks and loons, freestyle their jive.” His pieces on specific events in his life feel more polished and emotionally resonant, such as “Vision Rising,” dedicated to his brother Nicholas; or a sweet reflection on adopting a pair of orphaned raccoons. The collection also contains several free-verse poems as well as entire sections dedicated to found poetry, haiku, and “Interactive” poems that encourage readers to construct their own found verse, and a short story about the author’s near admittance to the U.S. Olympic bobsled team. The haiku chapter showcases some of Skoby’s strongest imagery, although it seems to ultimately disregard the form’s artistic purpose. A “Thoughts” section offers pithy statements, one-liners, or aphorisms around a central theme, which can be humorous and engaging but also veer into cliché. The resulting whole, punctuated by lovely black-and-white imagesby returning illustrator Tkachuk, feels overlong, but it’s clearly a labor of love. Skoby’s style and thematic choices may not resonate with everyone, but there’s artistic value in writing for the sheer joy of doing so.

A sweet, if unremarkable, book that offers a broad mix of poetic forms.