Amy Billone

I received this collection of poetry as a result of a Kirkus sponsored contest and wasn’t quite sure what to expect. What I found on my first read is that the collection of poems in The Light Changes by Amy Billone made me feel like I was on a high speed, 80 foot roller coaster flying through a dark tunnel to daylight.
From the pathologically cyclical imprisonment of
“Oh Dad, my mind is in boxes. My mind is in boxes, my mind is in boxes, my mind” to
“Let the good news in”
Amy Billone brought me on a lyrical, starkly honest journey through despair and into hope.
Haunting, brutal and ultimately triumphant, I was propelled through the speaker’s failed suicide attempt to eventual inner peace with candor, confusion, humor and hope. With unblinking, unsympathetic imagery, Billone’s use of straightforward use of language created an accessible poetic style that led me on an insightful journey from inner turbulence to optimism with uncompromising clarity.
I found it difficult to articulate the contradictory emotions this collection evoked – suffice to say, I love this book of poetry and I think that a lot of people who don’t normally read poetry will find it a moving as I… (más)

After some 20 odd years in a faltering career in media, I am discovering poetry again. The expressiveness and strength of the words that people use to create this art form surprises me again and again. Recently I received a copy of The Light Changes by Amy Billone and her work has impressed me in ways unimaginable.

Page 13 First Words

The same way at five I stared from the tub

into my father’s terrified eyes after he broke

the bathroom door to save me because I hadn’t

heard his calls and as he shook my body

to bring me back to life I laughed and told him

I didn’t drown, the soap bubbles only filled my ears -

The same way at eight I looked into his gasping face

after he leapt from a moving car because I lay

sprawled on the grass by an upside-down bicycle

and as he lifted me with shaking arms I said I hadn’t

fallen but was writing a poem about how the clouds

were really cotton candy – The same way

at sixteen I crashed my car into a street light

and fainted on the hardware store floor, then woke

to see him gazing blankly at me from the doorway

too frightened to remember the name

of my hospital so I said it for him – The same way

in my twenties I regained consciousness

after a six and a half day coma because I jumped

in front of a train I was so surprised to recognize

my pale-cheeked father waiting like a marble statue

by my side when we rarely talked and he lived

in a distant city that I spoke my first words

even thought doctors had said if I survived

I would never recover language: Hi Dad.

There are situations that Billone deals with that may be shocking to many readers but they are thoughts that many people have had. Billone has done a brilliant job in exploring elements of the human condition that exist in the deep recesses of all of us.

Page 14 Grace

I was raped by a speeding train. I asked it to.

I threw myself before it. I extended my legs, arms.

It came when I called it. Oh what enormous

metal thighs. Oh what fast thudding hips. Again

again against my blackening eyes, skull, chest, waist-

I loved its greasy sighs. I loved its wild blows.

My mind flew away. Who pulled me from below?

Who fed me with a tube? Who brought me

sunflowers? Who hummed me lullabies? Who

pardoned me? Who ripped my shame in two?

Billone also deals with situations that may be universal themes for readers. Her writing brings the situation down to a personal level

Page 37 The Gun Salesman Said

So you’re here for the first time? You’ll be glad

to know that women, after training, strike

the bull’s eye more frequently than men. Once,

a lady fired at a life-size picture

of her husband she’d hung from the ceiling.

At last she shot the real guy in the chest

and herself, leaving their two kids behind.

Now I won’t let you use detailed targets -

You’ve got to draw the line somewhere. For you,

I recommend a twenty-two light weight

revolver. Go ahead, fill it up, push

the cylinder in place, step forward, bend

your knee, lean in, cock the gun, draw back, aim.

Keep in mind, if you flinch, I will smack you –

You need to press the trigger slowly – Then

you’ll be surprised when the explosion comes.

Remember, if you blink, I will smack you,

I will smack you. That’s right. Startle yourself.

Hit it – Surprise! Murder that hanging man -

Surprise! Again, again, with a tranquil

grip, bust open his stupid narrow heart.

The Light Changes by Amy Billone is a strong and vivid collection of poems. Her themes are universal and the subjects she uses are extremely personally. This is a great read.… (más)