Taking it In 

Review by Vinnie Kinsella of e-zine 4and20poetry

www.4and20poetry.com

C.P. Stewart’s rich collection of poems, Taking it In, seizes life’s most feral moments and holds them captive on the page. His writing reminds us that life is to be savoured. What is ironic is that his poems, so concise in nature, cannot be quickly ingested. They are simply too rich to be swallowed whole. As a publisher of short-form poetry, I take great delight in writers who can offer truth in concentrated form. Stewart is one such writer.

What I enjoy most about Stewart’s writing is that it is selfless. Though he writes of his own experiences and emotions, he writes in a way that allows readers to claim his life lessons as their life lessons. He does not bury his treasures beneath poetic abstractions. Instead, he displays them on a podium of concrete imagery and words. His is not junk poetry.

Stewart’s meditative poems are filled with subtle (and not so subtle) reminders that life is best lived when we keep in mind the brevity of it all. He is a man who has considered the end and can “see home without looking back.” I am delighted by the focus Stewart brings to the page. The poems in Taking it In will undoubtedly resonate in the hearts of readers who delve into these pages.

Vinnie Kinsella
Publisher, Four and Twenty