I received a copy of Stuart Bucks’s become something frail for review purposes. As always, this review reflects only my honest thoughts on the book.
become something frail
by Stuart Buck
Publication Date: February 2019
Genre: Poetry
Stuart Buck is an award-winning poet living in North Wales. After spending a decade as a chef, he began writing Haiku and Tanka and after moderate success decided to branch out in to longer-form, freestyle poetry. His first collection, Casually Discussing the Infinite, was described as ‘a visceral experience…of poetic sucker-punches’ and broke in to the top 100 on Amazons World Poetry Chart. In ‘Become Something Frail’ he describes the dark and mystical, the humane and the fantastical.
My Review
I’ve been lucky enough to get to know Stu a bit over the past year and I can say without a doubt that he’s one of the nicest poets I’ve had the chance to “meet.” I’ve worked with him through Nightingale & Sparrow and knew he’s got some fabulous work, so I was excited to read and review become something frail.
The thing that stands out most in these poems (and through pretty much every bit of Stuart’s work I’ve had the chance to read) is his remarkable use of imagery. In addition to being a poet, Stu is also a brilliant visual artist; this absolutely shines through in his writing. He has an uncanny ability to describe something perfectly, yet do so in a way that you’d never had imagined otherwise.
Consider, for example, the opening lines of “jocasta awakens from a dream”:
a breath away from sunrise, she swallows the neon light
casts xylophonic slivers on the cardboard walls
draped in nothing but a smile she whirls;
That second line in particular is one I return to again and again. And that same beauty moves through this entire collection, making it one I cannot help but recommend.
About the Author
Stuart Buck is a poet and artist living in North Wales. His debut collection of poetry, Casually Discussing the Infinite, peaked at 89 on Amazon’s World Poetry chart and his second book Become Something Frail was released with Selcouth Station Press in 2019. When he is not writing or reading poetry, he likes to cook, juggle, and listen to music. He suffers terribly from tsundoku – the art of buying copious amounts of books that he will never read.