Rare poets like Mary Oliver possess both the heart and mind to capture the simplistic beauty of a blade of grass just as well as they grasp the tiny, aching moments of painfully human experiences, and in this collection, it's easy to spot both Oliver's influence on Misha and his own standalone talent.

This collection is deeply honest and human, with seemingly no holds barred within the pages. There are soft, sunlit poems along sharp-edged lines that will feel like a swift punch to the gut. There's love, heartbreak, satisfaction, longing, simplicity, complexity, gratitude, and forgiveness. Some of the poems are relatively straightforward, while some seem to have layers and layers to break apart -- in honesty, my only regret is that I didn't have a hard copy to overwhelm with post-its and pencil marks.

The first "part" of this collection was my personal favorite, but I believe that any of the themed sections could connect just as deeply with the right reader, depending on your own preferences and experiences. If you've seen any of Misha's poetry before, I believe that what's available now is a solid representation of his overall style, so if you've enjoyed any piece of his (or even if you've never heard of him), I think you should give this book a shot.

5 stars to this one.

:)

[ GR review posted at goodreads.com/rych ]

Review of Some Things I Still Can’t Tell You by Misha Collins

NetGalley gave me access to an electronic advanced reader’s copy of this poetry collection. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Some things I still can’t tell you is a poetry collection written by Misha Collins. The collection is split into six sections about topics like running, joy, love, people in Collins’s life, and more. Some book features include an index with specific page numbers for each poem, a table of contents listing each section, and an acknowledgements page. This thoughtful collection is full of sadness and humor, and it’s written in a conversational style.

Some of my favorite poems in the collection are humorous ones like “Zen Morning” and more poignant poems like “I, Assassin” and “Present. Tense.” There’s a lot of variety here not only in terms of the emotions and topics of the poems, but also in terms of the actual shapes of the poems through word-placement. Each poem is different and interesting. Collins’s story-telling voice is striking, and his descriptions are vivid. This collection is fantastic.

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

I’m a huge fan of Misha Collins, his acting, his charitable work, his personality. I did not know he wrote poetry, and I am so glad I found out.

This book is hauntingly beautiful. As a human being, as a wife, as a mother, I relate to so many poems in this book. It’s so interesting to be in the head of someone like Misha Collins, it makes him so much more normal.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and highly recommend.