EVERYONE GETS A TROPHY

Fillion offers a collection of personal and reflective poems.

This is a collection of spare, often arresting, mostly free verse poems—the style suits the author’s reflective, observational tone, which blends the personal and political with subtlety and occasional humor. In one of the most grounded moments, Fillion describes polishing shoes as a thunderstorm approaches: “With a late August thunderstorm approaching / And a dark, menacing sky / I strangely enjoy and am overwhelmed / By the non-pharmaceutical, calming incense / And simple joy of polishing shoes.” That mix of pleasure and melancholy runs through many of the poems. The author often turns to historical and literary figures—including Gerard Manley Hopkins, Jeremy Bentham, Ben Jonson, and John Milton—not to elevate his voice, but to spark unexpected reflections. He also finds delight in small details, listening to poets read their own work online (“Whiskey Tango Foxtrot”) or filling out a retirement form with weary humor (“Bound for Boxcar Willie Nowhere”). Some poems do rhyme, often playfully (occasionally leaning into being a little corny): “I can’t keep up / with the folks next door / Everything I wear / somebody else wore / I get all my Gucci / from the dollar store.” These moments are light, even sly, without undercutting the collection’s deeper emotional notes. There is a particularly poignant poem about the death of a loved one and several poems about aging, including the funny yet somewhat bleak “I Never Get Anything Done.” The short poems about birds, and other observations from the inside of a window, likewise strike a balance between humor and larger, deeper meaning. The political pieces, by contrast, often feel less fresh. Lines like, “The History of the nation / is a trail of / Bread crumbs from the past / That no longer lead / To the forest” lean on familiar imagery. Others fall into broad sloganeering: “truth and facts were / shredded into a Whopper / and a Happy Meal / of American carnage.” Still, Fillion’s voice remains engaging. His strongest poems rely on observation rather than outrage, and they linger long after reading.

A worthy collection of observational poems that occasionally veers into familiar political territory.