#some planet

About: Some Planet is a poetry collection that was written by Jamie Mortara (Also known as John Mortara) and published in 2015 by the small poetry press YesYes Books. This is an experimental collection with poems that are flowcharts, paper fortune tellers and made up of bible verses from a hotel bible. Although, there are also poems that are more ‘traditional’ in format as well. There is a theme running through this collection of things relating to outer space and the universe, but yet is grounded in affairs that are essentially very human.

Did I Like It?: Yes I did! This was a great collection of poetry. I didn’t love all of the poems, but there were a lot that I found inventive or I felt a connection with. I thought it was a fun idea to throw in poems in flowcharts and paper fortune tellers etc. There were also a series of poems threaded in throughout the collection that were ‘experiments’ and I liked those also. A lot of the ‘regular’ poetry had lines that were separated by slash’s and I really liked the flow and feeling of that style.

Favorite Poems: My absolute favorite poem was: i am trying to tell you. I read that one over many times. I thought it was just wonderful and it struck a chord in me. Some other favorites were: you pick a road, Q&A, distortion planet,gray, my heart is an alien spacecraft, black tourmaline, i am under house arrest inside my own body, you wake in a world where everyone is a robot and they are trying to build humans, vacation, heaven and how to start. There were two ‘experiment’ poems that really stood out to me as well: the one where you flip a coin to make decisions and the one about climbing the mountain.

Do I Recommend It?: Yes! If you are a fan of contemporary poetry then you should check out this collection if it sounds like something you would like. Also, if you particularly like reading poetry from small independent presses or are interested in themes such as outer space and the universe than this may be a collection for you!

Here is a link to get this collection from YesYes Books if you are interested: https://www.yesyesbooks.com/product-page/some-planet-by-jamie-mortara

Si pudiera cambiar ese día, nuestro último día en el parque, te diría que:

No quiero dibujar y no quiero hacer ejercicio, solo quiero admirarte y abrazarte, pasar nuestros últimos momentos aquí felices, riendo, viendo paisajes hermosos, viéndote a ti.

Te besaría en lo alto de esa pirámide de cactáceas donde se rompió tu termo, rodeados de los quijotillos que creaban sinfonías con su aleteo.

Si pudiera cambiar ese día, estaríamos tendidos en el pasto viendo el cielo azul en una ciudad que parece siempre gris, guardando un pedacito de pasto para recordar que pueden crecer cosas bellas en los lugares más hostiles.

Cambiaría ese día; tomaría tu mano todo el tiempo, el tiempo que tuvimos. Y aquel árbol en el que nos sentamos a dibujar, sería un rincón secreto a orillas del mundo que solo tú y yo sabríamos cómo llegar.

Y tal vez toda esta nostalgia pertenece a un algo que ya no existe, un algo que dejamos escapar durante estos meses, un algo que intentaba sobrevivir pero el golpe final de unas palabras lo desmoronó por completo en pedacitos que permanecen como ecos en nuestra memoria.

Y eso fue lo único que quedó.