Beautifully written and thoroughly moving.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for an advanced reading copy.

An amazing cover that reflects the awesomeness of the inside poetry. Brilliant. Highly recommended to all the poetry lovers ♥

Initial reaction: This was a collection of poetry that left much to be desired for content, but the artwork and some turns of the imagery were actually rather cool to see. Unfortunately, it wasn't one of my favorite poetry collections.

Full review:

Quick review for a quick read. This is the first full review of a poetry book that I've done in a while, and it's a shame that I don't get to read that many poetry collections often because poetry is my first love. When I saw this rather interesting looking collection (seriously, look at that cover - it's eye-catching O___O) on NetGalley, I thought I'd pick it up and give it a shot. I'm fond of dark poetry with a lyrical slant and illusionary references - so I figured from the opening note - which I'm presuming is from the author - I'd get something along those lines.

Instead, this collection is a haphazard presentation that never really came together well, despite themes blending nature with the psyche/psychological rooting, and the transition in life to ideals of decay, the passage of time, among other notations in that vein. I was disappointed by many of the actual poems themselves in this narrative because they were either truncated far too soon to communicate the links between ideals or overwrought with the diction so that the ideal was lost in translation. There were a few that I can honestly say that I liked for inclusion, such as "[i pour the edge of my earth from an empty cup]", "[i drop a rosary of seeds]" and "[my fingers damp in a ruined dream]". The imagery in this collection had - at times - some strong notations, such as in this excerpt from the latter mentioned poem:

my fingers damp in a ruined dream
hold tiny mirrors to her ashen face
eyes caught like two scant fish
cast back by tears that failed to see
themselves before the sad her fingers
exhume vellum word-coffins
from pockets no hands should find:
starless reveries of a prophet’s dusk
confessions of crimson blue asters
on bones painted bones

Yet on the whole, I honestly had a difficult time connecting with the narrative to the fullest extent of its intentions. The artwork in this collection is actually very well done and a beautiful inclusion to pair alongside the various poems. I honestly think the artwork gave the narrative more weight, but unfortunately it wasn't enough to make it a memorable experience for me compared to other poetry collections I've perused.

Overall score: 2/5 stars.

Note: I received this as an ARC from NetGalley, from the publisher IBPA.

The imagery in Sheets's poetry is stunning. Every word is carefully chosen to draw the reader's emotions in the exact direction Sheets wants to take them. However, several of the poems went way over my head, so if you're going to read this, make sure you're pretty good with poetry.

Not the best poetry I've read recently, but definitely worth the read, especially when paired with the gorgeously haunting illustrations.

A beautiful and complete volume of poetry. This book reminded me of why I enjoy poetry!

No review.

Disappointed in myself and the bloody e-pub file that didn't open which led to me not reading this.

I gave up.

I tried to read it but about 3 pages in, I realised that I didn't understand any of it. Thinking that maybe I wasn't really focusing, I tried again from the beginning. Still nothing. I'm not a fan of overly flowery metaphor or abstract concepts, so this sits on the other spectrum of nope from the likes of Lang Leav. I've read some of the other reviews and can conclude that I'm just too "dumb" for this kind of poetry. I didn't finish it, mostly because I was putting it off until I feel a little smarter but the copy expired. :P

I adored the illustrations and the cover; they were the most poetic aspects of this collection of poetry. Unfortunately, I found the writing exceedingly disjointed and poorly formatted. While there were lines that stood out, such as: "in the shade of a star-drunk cherry tree," these where not in the majority.

This collection of poetry is very unique. I love Sheets' writing style. Each poem is dark, yet very imaginative. I could visualize each one of them in my head as I as reading them. The artwork inside the book is absolutely beautiful. They range from happy to heartbreaking to curious. It's a short book, but definitely not one to be ignored.

The Hour Wasp is a poetry collection written by Jay Sheets and illustrated by Robyn Leigh Lear. It was published on May 28, 2017 by April Gloaming Publishing. I selected this collection for review and was provided a complimentary e-book copy from NetGalley for my honest review.

This collection of poems is reminiscent of Kafka's The Metamorphosis and at times places me in the pages of Burroughs' Naked Lunch. The fantastical and visceral language provides a rich fabric of poetic texture. Although I appreciate the heavy symbolism, I believe poetry should be accessible.

The Hour Wasp is riddled with mystical imagery proving it difficult to navigate its free verse form. I often clashed with its stubborn use of hypnagogic imagery.

The poet's goal is to provide "hope to the hopeless." It left me wrestling with the text instead of wrestling with the hopefulness it wished to accomplish. The work provided spiritual release and disconnectedness from what I would have rather faced as the reader.

"... heliolatry darkened an oneiric chaos."

I think everyone should have a robust working knowledge of poetry, and only recommend this collection based on that fact.

This one was a hard no for me. It was very short but took me a while to get through, considering how short of a book it is. I fell asleep reading it and couldn't keep my focus. And I'm not sure if it was meant to be that confusing or if that's just the way the proof version is, but I was lost as to where a line started and ended so it was like reading one long-ass paragraph of nonsense at a time. There were a lot of words I didn't understand and though I did get the feeling of the mood the author was going for, it just wasn't for me.

Poetry is extremely subjective. There are styles that will resonate with you, and others that will strike the wrong chord within you. For me, this collection landed somewhere in between.

On one hand you have absolutely phenomenal drawings. While they were not essential, they provided the atmosphere for the words and began the flow of your creative imagination. They matched the gorgeous words. Sheets is truly a wordsmith as the usage of words combined rolled off the tongue.

On the other hand, while I could appreciate the lyrical quality of the words, I was left confused. Perhaps it is the flexibility, or lack, of the punctuation, but I enjoy poetry that leaves you reeling because of a strong message. The poetry that moves me is written elegantly, straightforward, and makes me feel something. All I felt here was awe for the words, and confusion. At the end, I felt I had missed all of this meaning that the foreward talks about (in addition, it seems, from that, that the readers are assumed to be female).

There were sentences that did this to me, ones that made me stop in my tracks, but they were few. Ultimately, this was exactly my type of language and atmosphere, just not my type of poetry. It was imagery on a mythic scale, but that left me passing through them like mirages, ghosts in smoke. And all I was left with, was a small empty feeling in their absence.

This is the first ever book that I have DNFed :( This was totally not for me. Having an interest in poetry I picked this book. I was intrigued by its cover itself. The graphic made on the cover pages and the internal pages is beautiful. That's why I gave it one star even.

I think rather than the writer's fault its my fault that I couldn't understand this tough kind of poetry. I was not able to indulge myself in it. After reading simple language poetry books, I think this was too tough for me. It was written in some kind of verses. Also, the Kindle formatting was poor which makes it difficult to recognize from where the new poem starts.

It was totally not for me

Been awhile since I read a poetry book, but I am so glad that I did. I will be passing this poetry book down through the family and then onto my friends

Thank you to Netgalley, April Gloaming Publishing, and Jay Sheets for the chance to read and review this ARC;

First things first, I have to start with how the art in this book caught me from the first few early pages before we even got to the table of contents, and how that started off the drifting, effervescent feeling of the book being half tangible and half not. The art throughout on continuing to become more and more gorgeous as there were full page drawings between the poems and section of poems, which I spent a good deal studying because they melded so well with the subject.

I love the lyricism the author used, as well as the refrains of repetition-- both inside and outside of brackets, as well as repeating titles or sets of words used in earlier poems, again, in later ones, weaving those poems into a different kind of call and response, or even echo of earlier to later in a story, or life, which gave it several more dimensions as I was reading it. I was entirely in love with the subjects the poetry was one, and sometimes I felt it ran a little long, but I loved the art and the structure, and I really am torn on giving it 3 or 4 stars.

Live post on Blue Cat Review on May 9, 2017

Disclaimer: I was provided an eARC by April Gloaming Publishers and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review for which I am not being compensated in any way. All opinions are fully my own.
~ Judi E. Easley for Blue Cat Review

My Review: 2 1/2-stars
I read this book through and then I read it again more slowly with a dictionary and scrap paper at hand. Then with my notes, I read it again. Parts of it, I read aloud. Then I had my daughter, who is working on an English Lit Masters Degree, read it with me and discuss it. Then I read it aloud to my daughter and my husband, who is a teacher with two masters degrees. I kept thinking maybe I just wasn't smart enough to understand all this. But education isn't the answer. It has to be in your soul, and it isn't in mine.

First of all, Mr. Sheets writes like a fantasy prophet that needs to have the riddles interpreted, like in Wheel of Time or the Belgariad. Not having a wizard or Aes Sedai handy, I understood very little of the first two-thirds of what the writer was trying to say.

Perhaps some punctuation, spacing or basic poetry rules would have helped. But Mr. Sheets didn't use any of those. In fact, I had trouble sometimes at the stops between poems. Those brackets didn't stand out all that well.

What I found I really liked about this book is this. Mr. Sheets has a wonderfully rich vocabulary. This book reads marvelously and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it dramatically to my daughter and husband (and the cat) all the way through. I was able to find pauses to breathe, but I had not a clue what most of it meant. The illustrations are quite lovely, too! Robyn Leigh Lear did a wonderful job on those.

I recommend this for those who have the soul for poetry and the time to understand Mr. Sheets rich vocabulary. Try reading it aloud.

Expected release date is May 28, 2017

This poetry book features an eccentric style of writing that was perfect for my taste: free verse poetry that requires you to think below surface-level words and dig out layers of meaning and imagery embedded in the sentences. It is poetry that doesn't always make sense at first but still exudes an ethereal quality, poetry that has a life-altering impact once it's read four times and the words connect and sink in. This kind of poetry isn't for everyone, but it is for me.

Even the presentation of the poems add to the quality of the collection: every word is in lower case font without punctuation. The visual style changes from poem to poem, cutting phrases in pieces between lines and ending so abruptly that it slices you like a razor blade. But it's beautiful.

The Hour Wasp is a literary collection of poems not meant for the uneducated, the non-dreamers, or the faint of heart. It is raw, it is dark, it is honest. This collection is made of otherworldly imagery that will transport you to another time and place, one you only wish you could reside in forever. And when you come back to your suddenly sullen reality after the last page, you'll be tempted to leap back into that dream state of chaos created by the elegantly occult poems.

Also included in this book are absolutely stunningly beautiful black ink watercolor paintings of earthly creations. The only improvement I would make to this book would be to add more artwork like that which already exists inside.

I struggled to pick only one quotation to include, but here is my favourite part, lines from a poem titled [my fingers damp in a ruined dream]:
her fingers / exhume vellum word-coffins / from pockets no hands should find . . . & the rude beauty whispers: plant the bones / know they'll grow to become the flowers / ours will never be

This is a book that I will read time and time again because it had that much of an impact on me.

This book suffered from a severe lack of editing and a cohesive story for each poem.