If I’d Known By Kelly B. Madden

Madden writes gripping poems that will leave you thinking, and maybe commiserating.  It’s not easy to tackle life changing events and place them in a poem, but the author has done just that.  Words are chosen carefully, a great deal of detail has gone into the use of space, subjects and visuals.  From the poem “Codependent”:  “A drowning man / grabbed onto me once // we both tread water for a while / before sinking.”  These poems pull at your heart.  They turn moments into pieces put together as a whole for the reader to share, learn, and to relate.

Reviewed by LB Sedlacek