I'm a big fan of confessional poetry in this style, poetry that plays with breath and sentence flow and correlations, and I truly loved reading every little bit of this book. Sam's poetry is raw and unabashed and truthful with a capital T, and I aspire to that level of honesty. He has always been honest with me. I have a teensy little story for you all, if that's ok: When Sam came out to me, it was through a note passed on a bus in the middle of the desert in Israel (redundant, I know), and before he actually said the words, I was so caught up in my own drama that I thought he was talking about some character trait he could change, like he didn't like how dismissive he was with people. I was certainly projecting my own problems with my then-boyfriend at the time, and once he actually said "I'm gay" I felt mortified that I had spent so much time telling him he could change. Because he can't. That's his Truth. I don't think I've ever told him how much that conversation impacted me, how much his sharing with me taught me about how I engage with other people, and how sorry I am for not being an active listener from the get-go. So I tell you now, Samwise. With your book in my hand and my heart. Thank you for teaching me to pay attention. I am so proud of you.
I'm going to keep this post short because I'm overdue and I could talk forever about how great my friends are, but I need to get on with my recap post before 2018 really gets going!
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