Book Review: One Pulse: Cradle to Grave by Tetiana Aleksina and Tony Single

I was contacted by the two authors of this short, unusual collection in an email that immediately caught my eye. I don’t normally review poetry because I think, generally speaking, poems are too personal to be “reviewed” the way novels or non-fiction are. You can’t evaluate them purely on artistic structural merits, because the reason poetry resonates usually has very little to do with those elements. While it’s true that other genres also “click” with readers for intangible reasons, that intangibility always seems somehow more essential in poetry/prose – at least for me. At the same time, to write a review and recommend/not recommend something on such a purely subjective criterion as personal resonance seems to me to be inherently problematic. That’s because the resonance depends not only on personal preferences and experiences, but on mood and mindset – at the time of reading. I can read a poem that moves me to tears today, then re-read it next year and think it’s drivel. Poetry evokes feelings, and feelings change. Hence my usual avoidance of reviews…

But something about the email I received from Tati and Tony caught my eye, and I agreed. And I’m glad I did. While poetry is never going to be my first love, reading-wise, I do enjoy clever turns of phrase and evocative imagery in any context. I also enjoy reading by people who love words and like to play with them. All of those things are found in this delightful, dark, quirky collection. People mock by saying “I laughed, I cried…” but I actually did run that gamut of emotions with these writings. There is playful fun here, followed by desperation, fear, pain, longing, joy, and snarky commentary in equal measure. That’s an impressive range in a book that only weighs in at 38 pages… And as if that wasn’t enough to whet your appetite, let me mention the absolutely charmingly dark illustrations scattered throughout – they are a fun, evocative (and occasionally provocative) addition to the words that really tied things together visually and linguistically.

I’d like to particularly call out a few of the pieces that I especially enjoyed: Culling, Doll, Not Today, Melancholics Anonymous, Lines, and P.S. I Love You. True, there were several that either left me confused or with a slight eye roll – but that happens with every collection, I think, from prose to short stories. Still, on the whole, I found this to be an enjoyable excursion into the heads of two very talented and creative individuals. If you want to learn more about them, or sample their work before committing to the book, check out their very original (and charmingly cool) website Unbolt.Me.