The poems touched a deep cord within me when i first started reading. Some of them were deeply felt and some of they were okay. Overall, a good book of poetry that anyone can enjoy. Thank you publisher for the e-arc.

Thank you NetGalley and ECW Press for the chance to read and review the arc for this book!

For me this collection was a mixed bag! While there were some poems like For Francesca with a Broken Heart that I absolutely loved, a lot of poems just felt okay, and didn't stand out.

That being said, For Francesca made the whole book worth it! I was also a big fan of Love Has Nothing to Do (the very first poem in the book), Confession, On Star Divination, and Infection Prevention for Murderers! I personally think these were some of the best pieces in the book! Overall, As a whole, I would read more by Robert Priest!

One of the poems in Robert Priest’s superb poetry collection “If I Didn’t Love The River” is entitled “What Francesca Does To English”, and upon reading it, you will be marvelling at the things Robert Priest does to English. This poetry will awe you.
This book has many poems about love, but maybe no actual love poems in the strictest sense of that term. But there is much about the unpredictability and violence of love, and many a broken heart.
Stars also play a role in several of the poems, affecting our lives in ways both benign and malevolent; but always randomly. There is humour too, as in “Why I See A Therapist” where Priest bemoans that everything reminds him of the Third Reich, but even this poem turns dark.
Lighter moments are to be found though, such as the melodic and bouncy “Device”, a twisted tribute to the all-consuming power of the smartphone and its ilk. This is followed by a similar poem, “The Like Process”, an ode to that often elusive and addictive social media conformation.
Several of the poems are visceral rants about nature and the planet and what mankind can and does do to it. Obviously the pandemic is one of the themes covered, resulting in the hilarious “Infection Prevention for Murderers” which cautions killers to practice social distancing. Sick, funny and brilliant.
There are many sublime moments in this collection and I am grateful to have discovered Robert Priest’s work. I loved the words and the rollercoaster rhythm Priest imposes on them. Once you “get” his poetry, it gets you too and won’t let go. Mostly dark, even the humour comes at a price; Robert Priest makes you regret laughing as he skilfully twists the tone of the poems. Priest utilises many styles and poetical forms with a cornucopia of themes and images; the results are sometimes delicate, often brutal, but always stunning.