Easy Victims to the Charitable Deceptions of Nostalgia
Emily Schulten
White Pine Press, 2024

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asy Victims to the Charitable Deceptions of Nostalgia is a poetry collection is immersed in its surroundings: in the beach, the ocean, aquatic flora and fauna, and the peculiarities of Florida.  This book reads more like a prose writer telling different stories; scenes from the author’s life are refracted back in short passages filled with abundant coastal mise-en-scène.  The language is straight-forward and less abstract (as is often encountered with poetry) so it becomes reminiscent of confessional poets, though more Paul Hetherington than Sylvia Plath.

A good portion of the poems explore the poet’s attempts at conception or puts the author’s voice in relation to to men in her life, be it fathers or partners or friends, etc.  The feminine voice exploring these scenes would be relatable to a wide audience, especially for women.  Fans of atmospheric, confessional poets or movies like The Florida Project would enjoy this book. Particular gems in this collection include “To Make a Paradis Out of Paradise,” “Love Poem, Interment,” and “Lovebirds”.  At its heart, Easy Victims to the Charitable Deceptions of Nostalgia is a woman’s exploration of different forms of love and loss where her surroundings become a tool through which she is able to understand her internal world. 

I say to burn and you say to bury, and the rest
we agree on—we will become nothing together,
we will expose the entirety of our bones,
to dry and be bleached white in the sun.