The Sad Epistles, by Emma Bolden, is a Dancing Girl Press chapbook comprised of ten letters. Like all of Dancing Girl Press’ titles–and I’ve read quite a few–it’s fantastic. Bolden has a way of evoking incredibly saturated, thick emotions by using well chosen words and a quick pace in her poems. The poems all focus on the ending of a relationship between the narrator and someone she loves. Even though this seems like a used topic (I mean, how many pop songs are about lost/ending love?) she does this in a completely fresh and beautiful way that did not leave me feeling exhausted by the end (a common problem with Celine Dion power-ballads).

Let me try to go further into why I like the fact that this covers what I called a “used” emotion in a new way. I am most moved, always, by poetry that covers mundane topics in a fresh way. Poetry, in my mind, is moving because it is able to give voice to the mundane things we go through in an interesting and innovative way. The Sad Epistles does this exceptionally well. Often the title of each poem is a simple evocative phrase that could have any number of typical pop-radio ballads following them, but instead they are followed by poetry that focuses on precise word choices and emotion that is paced throughout each poem. Read only first poem in the collection, “Why I Can’t Write You a Love Poem” to see what I mean.

The core of this book is very simple, which is to say that every poem within the collection is exploring the same emotions/situation. This liberates Bolden as an author; she is able to use many different techniques to get at the same thing, and the effect is somewhat like exploring an object in a dark room–you feel the same thing from different angles to get a grasp on it. Throughout the collection she attempts list poems, couplets, long unbroken lines, and even a call and response poem. Running throughout all of the epistles, however, is a use of strong nouns and sharp images that keeps the voice consistent.

If you enjoy Emma Bolden’s work, you should also read one of her several other chapbooks that can be found easily through her blog, A Century of Nerve. She maintains a strong online presence, by which I mean she updates often and her posts are interesting and well-written. Currently, she is an assistant professor of creative writing at Georgetown College and edits the Georgetown Review. The Sad Epistles is available from Dancing Girl Press.