“Hearing the Underwater” is a collection you want to have on your shelf—you’ll be reading the poems over and over. Several themes are approached within this collection, including motherhood, mental health and social issues such as poverty. Slone does not shy away from any thought that consume her mind.

In the poem “Cynicism and Other Synonyms”, she starts with the following stanza:

“When I have greasy hair,
I am incapable of being happy,
yet I put it off just long enough
because feeling agitated feels good
sometimes.” (p. 3)

And that’s only the beginning (it ends even better, trust me). In a simple way, she shows us how ‘illogical’ mental illness can be, and I could strongly relate right off the bat. Slone bares herself with the rawness of language, without hiding, and that’s why as a reader I found it so easy to connect with her poetry. And if anyone knows me well enough, they’d know how difficult it is for me to channel myself into another person’s world—Slone’s feat is by no means easy.

Her words transferred her anger and passion to me. I couldn’t stop nodding in agreement (with pouty lips and furrowed eyebrows) to some of her poems, such as “Within Your White Picket Fence”. Take a look at these lines:

“we pray on as the mounds of orphaned
pleas and rising statistics
pause it has happened
again” (p. 12)

What makes Slone’s work exceptional is that she has something to say, in a way that compels you to not miss a word. Her voice is one that we need more of, so I strongly recommend you to buy this chapbook.

_{I was provided with a free eBook copy in exchange for an honest review.
Quotes may differ slightly from original due to formatting difficulties on blog posts.}

Sources and Links:

Book: Hearing the Underwater
Book Cover: Goodreads
Reviewer: Jeremy Mifsud