Review: “One Person Holds So Much Silence” by David Greenspan

[image description: red-on-white print of human musculature from behind. Over top in block letters is the title and author’s name.]

Publication Date: March 8, 2022
Driftwood Press
65 pgs, $14.99

One Person Holds So Much Silence, the debut book by poet David Greenspan, tells of addiction, trauma, and complicated embodiment through sparse lines that feel weighty and delicate all at once. A favorite poem of mine, “Where are the worms in my mouth brother in your mouth,” takes the vague form of a surreal and slightly dark Q&A that unfolds over the course of about ten pages.

Stylistically, much of the collection is characterized by Greenspan’s deliberate use of spacing–gaps in the middle of lines that are telling in their hesitation, as well as line breaks that make the wait for the next words feel meaningful. This all serves to make the book almost impossible to put down. Even when the subject matter feels almost too grim to continue, the writing still pulls you through, insistent and irresistible. And in the end, that seems to be the point; these poems tell a story of hardship, of pain, of wanting to give up, but they also form a picture of someone keeping going and getting through, or at least making a damn good effort.

While the rhythm and style of the poems was compelling, and individual phrases were beautiful or otherwise interesting, I often struggled to follow the entirety of the poems and make sense of what they really meant. This is a book that demands a lot of its audience, and is best suited to readers who enjoy the work of deciphering–which, to be sure, is a key piece of poetry’s appeal for many people.

All in all, One Person Holds So Much Silence is a solid book of poetry that explores the way trauma lives and moves in the body and mind.

Purchase One Person Holds So Much Silence from Driftwood Press or ask your local indie bookstore!