HELP KEEP OUT

A collection that explores modern issues through daily poems.

Letters, in his latest series installment, continues his process of writing a poem every day and compiling it into collections, divided into books, that tell a complete narrative. This volume, comprised of Books 13-17, offers an evocative if sometimes slightly confusing tale that focuses on a theme of “invaders,” with unnamed characters bearing an us-versus-them mentality. The first book features an anonymous man who appears to be guarding a border, weighing the morality of keeping out so-called “enemies” who are “brown undisciplined and dangerous.” Similarly, a recurring refrain of a shaman on the mound, telling their people about invaders, highlights Letters’ investigation of why people feel the need to build walls around themselves and their communities. Letters’ poetry is often striking, and he has a knack for poignant, brief descriptions, as in “14:47 (10/29/18)”: “What silent god has strewn / these stars? What priest / of the river cult coaxes / harmony out of this rock?” His poems sometimes have a haunting quality to them, as in “15:22 (1/12/19),” in which Letters conveys a personification of death: “A woman with lapis lazuli / beneath her teeth / is buried high above the river / with a rosary / entangled in her fingers.” The poetry also allows readers to reflect on past and modern-day sentiments regarding colonization, immigration, and other issues. There are occasional continuity questions; for instance, the story in Book 14 seems to be about conquerors invading an indigenous community, but shortly thereafter a poem mentions the 1960s. On the whole, however, this collection is moving and relevant.

An expressive compendium of vividly descriptive verses.