YE.DF. reviewed in Winnipeg Free Press!

I've been a little antsy about whether my new poetry book, You Exist. Details Follow., is going to get reviewed. So I was happy to see it looked at as part of a group review in the May 26 edition of the Winnipeg Free Press. The reviewer is Jonathan Ball. I really like that he talked about my poem "Time."

You Exist. Details Follow (Anvil, 120 pages, $16), by Cobourg's Stuart Ross, is filled with fresh, stunning images: "a pale flower / that cares about bombs." Ross is always smart, strange and hilarious, while still conveying emotion. Laments that "I didn't know how to walk / in the valley of too many shoes" and observations that "They were in their world, / where nothing was weird" are both clever and affecting.

Other moments with less pathos still build strange characters: "A dog barked at me. / Who is in that dog? / Who is telling me something / from inside a badly sewn dog suit?"

The short poem Time best blends Ross's interests in junk culture and existential questions, allowing him to reflect on matters as weighty as "time" through considering some generic, campy, sci-fi time-travel flick. "A brave crew? Strange place? / Prehistoric gals? Sue me. / Tell me where all past years are. / It's about dinosaurs vs. astronauts. / It's about their fate."

Will there be other reviews? Will my book get clobbered?

Over and out.