DITCHLAPSE / [REALLY AFRAID] by tommy wyatt
DITCHLAPSE / [REALLY AFRAID]
by tommy wyatt
Q, an imprint of Querencia Press
August 16, 2024
DITCHLAPSE / [REALLY AFRAID] by tommy wyatt, forthcoming from Q, is a “surreal tête-bêche collection on trauma and mental health.”
I had the supreme privilege of getting to review this chapbook duology early, and it was truly an experience to read!
DITCHLAPSE / [REALLY AFRAID] is a fearless, chronically online (non-derogatory) series of fears, confessions, accusations, and shattered-mirror-reflections. A true contemporary poet, wyatt skillfully marries elements of pop culture, Millennial nostalgias, and technology with relatable feelings of anxiety, dissociation, the mind/body relationship, disorganized identity, and hyperawareness of the passage of time and the changes that come with it. These poems are tightly packed and extremely evocative, entrenched with flowing, impactful sound arrangements and striking, visceral sensory details.
wyatt’s use of form throughout the dual-collection is so fun to follow. Many styles unfold in both halves: prose poems, slash-broken poems, concrete poems, interview format, play format, quiz format, traditionally formatted poems, colorized poems, black-out poems, and more. Some poems, like “interdimensional cable / tags for #uncannyvalley #makeuptutorial” in DITCHLAPSE and “"rewind, what's that?" says every AI-generated uncanny valley level 'human' otherwise known as the next generation?,” in [REALLY AFRAID], really put your eyes to work across the page to read them. Others, like DITCHLAPSE’s “iPhone in retrograde,” utilize white space both in columns and lines to break the poem into hazy, breathless bits that highlight how the poem’s themes and the speaker’s speed-of-thought are intertwined. As a bonus, most (if not all) of the poems organized in such fashions can be read horizontally and vertically. Some of the styles throughout the double-book may not be to everyone’s taste (I’m not a lover of script formats, myself), but the amalgamation as a whole really works, both thematically and visually.
My favorite tool wyatt uses, though, is the frequent compound-word creations. The forceful bumping together of ideas and sensations is really effective in complementing the larger themes around synaptic activity and discombobulated connections, as well as just very satisfying in terms of connotative concepts. The diction throughout — from the compounded words to the social media lingo to the choices for in-poem and whole-collection(s) repetition — is deeply compelling.
Now, do I understand what every line or poem is trying to say/convey? No, not always. Does that limit my enjoyment and recognition of the craft in wordsmithing, sonics, and playful structures, or in feeling the emotional weight of the work? No — the quality, creativity, and vibes are all absolute. (And frankly, if comprehension was the be-all-end-all of poetics, I think the world would be sorely bereft of so much spectacular poetry.)
My only real negative… that you cannot CALL NOW to the 1-800-757-7777 phone number in the “Infomercial as the moment right before a flashback” breaks in DITCHLAPSE! (At least per my obsessive Google search results.)
*I actually will say, though, that readers with trouble seeing faded or colorized (especially red/green) text could encounter struggles with [REALLY AFRAID]. I would suggest reading the ebook version so you can adjust the screen contrast, brightness, and size to your preference/ability.
DITCHLAPSE / [REALLY AFRAID] releases one week from today on August 16, 2024.
Learn more about the collection and (pre)order your copy here: https://www.querenciapress.com/ditchlapse-really-afraid-by-tommy-wyatt
Thank you Querencia Press for the complimentary ARC of this title! I appreciate the early opportunity to read tommy’s work and look forward to seeing the final release out in the world. :)
— Kylie