The Control Room or the Demands of Heather

Hollis Jay, poet and author, graduated with both her BA in English and American Literature and her MFA in Creative Writing specialising in fiction. She is continuing with her educational goals and is currently working on her MA in English focusing in the Gothic.  She plans on also eventually receiving her PhD specialising in Gothic Literature. She is working as an intern for Magic Cat Press who so thoughtfully provided me with this collection of her poems for review.

I have to say that the meaning of the title eludes me but the 92 poems in this collection were a pleasure to read. Some of them are cute and fun - like the one I will share with you soon - and others were darker. Ms Jay seems to prefer free verse which works for me. I do not hold to the notion that a poem must rhyme or follow some pattern of syllables to be enjoyable or worthwhile.

The format of the book took me by surprise. It looks like a the collections of classroom work that I used to bring home from grade school. Surely these poems deserve better. A few illustrations or a smaller size page would have gone a long way toward showing these gems off to greater advantage.

From page 31:

Old Man Stew
by Hollis Jay

Old man stew
Smells of Ben gay
Strong cologne
And old used soap
Those small squares
That usually float down the shower drain
With flaky and dried hair
With turtle pellets
With the remnants of ear wax
And small particles
Of used slime


Copies of this book are available for purchase here