“Florida and Other Waters”

by Timothy Robbins

• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Cyberwit.net (June 5, 2023)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Paperback ‏ : ‎ 131 pages
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 8119228251
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-8119228256
• Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 5.6 ounces
• Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.5 x 0.3 x 8.5 inches

Review by LB Sedlacek

Robbins offers a poetry book that captures the essence of life in Florida, from the title poem, while also immersing readers in a tapestry of experiences.  The title poem, “Florida and Other Waters,” while intense it also serves as the anchor for the book inviting the reader in to explore the depths of the soul in several day in the life entries of real-life events within the lines and maybe to also examine the complexities of being human. 

Robbins writes with vulnerability which make his poems accessible.  This collection is introspective with a blend of wisdom and wonder.  Robbins often uses simplistic phrases into profound accomplishments of the written word.

His poems are personal offering keen observations with a richness of the senses.  While reading his poems you will feel as if you’re there too in the moment and sharing the same thoughts and feelings, or having the same conversations.

This collection illustrates Robbins’ versatility as a poet.  From free verse to narrative or prose like poems, each one is unique and contributes to the overall feel and themes, so to speak, of the book.

From the poem “Needles”:

“John was sleeping in the tent when Marc

ducked under a pine branch. John’s snore

had gone mute with the dawn chorus and

now was a whisper in growing amber

warmth. To avoid a face-full of needles

while passing under a drooping limb, Marc

bowed as only primates can. John woke

long enough to touch the molted sleeping

bag. Nothing alarming. Marc’s early walks

were as normal as breakfast. The stiff needles

against Marc’s baby-fine hair might have

revived: his father’s fingers (one slightly

curtailed by a saw) freeing his dandruff;

a guitarist’s calluses caressing his scalp; the

guitarist’s heart tapping the opposite of SOS

in his flattened ear;”

Robbins takes the mundane and makes it moving.  He shows you the moving parts, the irony, and transforms the everyday. 

His poems are communicative but also serious.  Each one is chock full of poetic maneuvers reading as if stories or tales, and of course as plain and melodic verses. 

This is an enriching book to read.  The poems are wide open meaning they will open your eyes. 

~LB Sedlacek is the author of several books of poetry including “Unresponsive Sky,” “The Poet Next Door,” “Simultaneous Submissions,” “I’m No Robot,” “Swim,” and “Words and Bones.”  Her most recent short stories book is “Motor Addiction & The Renovator” and her poem novel is “The Blue Eyed Side.”