This Is Strange Review: A Review of This Is Strange June

I had never read anything by Tex Gresham so I did not know what to expect from his poetry collection: This Is Strange June. What I did know was that he seemed to be in cahoots with Brian Alan Ellis, Zak Smith, Cavin Bryce Gonzales, and KKUURRTT.  The likes of which reminded me of the friendship of the Beats: Allen Ginsberg, William S. Burroughs, Jack Kerouac, and Lucien Carr.                                                               

I purchased the book when the publisher rlysrslit (Really Serious Literature) had announced they’d be closing their doors, and their catalogue went on sale.  Sometimes when an indie publisher folds it can be hard to find their books.  You don’t often find indie lit books at thrift stores and used bookstores.  After the book arrived, it sat with the hundreds of other books on my shelves waiting to be read. I sort of forgot about it.

When I started this blog, I gathered up all my indie lit books and rediscovered some books I’d forgotten I had.  This Is Strange June was one of those books.  One thing I really enjoy about small presses is that they often publish short books, especially poetry collections.  I took it with me on a trip to Kentucky and figured I might start it after finishing whatever I was reading at the time.  I finished the book before the end of the week.  By the end, I was a Tex Gresham fan and very disappointed that rlysrslit had closed.  They put out some of my favorite poetry books. You can still find this book on Amazon.                                

The cover of the book made a lot more sense after I started the book.  It’s a collage of a picture of a child with an assortment of shapes and colors in the background; parts of a rainbow and a sun.  The kind of thing you might see in elementary school.  The colors and faded look of the cover gave me 90’s vibes.  Tex’s name is paired with a basketball on both sides.  Overall, it gives a strong sense of nostalgia.

Inside the book is a picture of a smiling child wearing a Pee Wee Herman shirt and on the next page is a picture of a car on fire.  I can only imagine what Tex’s life was like growing up.  On the title page, underneath the title it says, “Poems For People Who Don’t Like Poems and Also For Those That Do.”

Well… I was in for a treat.

What followed is a great poetry collection. 

Gresham’s poems are funny, sincere, sad, and slightly disturbing. 

These are poems written when looking back on Tex’s childhood. 

There were a lot of things that happened to him as a kid, and now as an adult, he’s thinking: “Well that’s weird and maybe explains some things.”  

He remembers what parents were like through his current lens of being an adult now. 

Feeling sorry for his parents.   

Realizing how different life was like in the 80’s/90’s.  

It’s like he threw everything he could remember about his past and his parents and built a picture of who he is now.

There are a lot of stories within the poems. 

There are no wasted poems.

There are a few movie references that help set the stage of when Tex grew up.

This book of poems reveal identity rather than disguise it.  I take it Tex is southern, a big fan of Richard Brautigan, loves movies and t.v. shows, and probably in his late 30’s early 40’s.

There are a few curveball poems like “see you next chewsday, innit?” and “Insert PDF”.  “Insert PDF” is the type of poem that would come off as lazy juvenilia if written in high school but fits with Tex’s style.  While “untitled poem” is a title overused by so many poets, who can’t think of a title for their poem, it’s not a throw away in this collection.  It’s funny and the kind of poem that deserves such a name.   

My favorite of all the poems is the title poem.  It reminds me of the couplet style used by A.R. Ammons in his book Garbage.  It’s also the longest poem in this book. 

Yes, this is a book of poems for people who don’t like poems and also for those that do.  These poems are in the free verse style that lay it all out there.  They paint clear pictures with few words and are often very funny.  It would be fun to watch Tex do a reading of these poems.      

I greatly enjoyed this collection.  I look forward to reading more of his work.  Speaking of new work, Tex Gresham has a new collection of short stories called, Violent Candy, out now by one of my other favorite small publishers: House of Vlad.