In Daniel Lawless’s poetry, the world is depicted as a precarious and unsafe place. Dangers lurk in every corner: within families, on the streets, across social classes, and deep within one’s own psyche. For instance, in the poem “The Old Woman Hit By a Truck,” Lawless reacts to a photo depicting the aftermath of a tragic accident. He observes details like the woman’s broken glasses, her head turned to the side, and her blood-stained checkered skirt hiked up. Nobody stops to help; children seem to be fleeing from the scene. The disturbing part comes the day after the incident when someone shares a photoshopped version of the picture online with an iPhone added under the woman’s ear, labeled “Out of Service.” Lawless remarks that this macabre humor reveals a void in the soul of the person who created the meme. The twisted image conveys only one message: “I am open. I am empty.”
A prevailing sense of emptiness permeates this collection, particularly evident in the title piece, “The Gun My Sister Took Her Own Life With.” The poem entails a series of fragmented recollections regarding the suicide of the poet’s elder sister when he was ten and she was sixteen. Lawless approaches these traumatic memories indirectly, starting with the description of the weapon as “a cubit long and weighing half as much as an average newborn.” Details like where she obtained the gun or the absence of a suicide note or farewell call are highlighted. The poet, in his attempts to uncover her final moments, only manages to recount that she had coffee at a McDonald’s and conversed with someone at a 7-Eleven. He also mentions their mother’s reaction upon hearing the news while hanging out the wash, letting out a scream likened to the sound of a cat in distress heard blocks away. While the poem does not explicitly depict the suicide itself, the accumulated details create a negative space that symbolizes a void for the poet, leaving her death not just difficult to discuss but akin to a gap in existence.
The collection portrays several absent individuals. In “Dear Dewi,” Lawless writes to a friend mourning the loss of her son to a tsunami. In “Books and Correspondences: A Short History of Decay, E. M. Cioran,” he recounts an incident where a neighbor’s son tragically drowned after climbing a water tower as a prank. Mental illness is a recurring theme throughout the book, hinting at its presence in the poet’s family during his upbringing. In “View From a Treehouse,” Lawless recalls witnessing his schizophrenic older brother being taken to an institution by their parents. Addressing his brother, the poet describes the poignant scene, reflecting on the visual impact it had on him as a child.
Despite the heavy themes, Lawless’s poems do not descend into gloom or self-pity. The collection brims with emotional intensity and vitality, touching on a wide array of subjects including American highways, road rage, a mangrove swamp, and literary figures like Rilke and Kafka. The poet’s language fluctuates from blunt colloquialism to subtly evocative, underscoring a restless energy in the verses. The cumulative effect is a voice that acknowledges fear but also transcends it, confronting the whirlwind of life’s struggles head-on. Lawless’s work invites reflection on the nature of existence and the mysteries of human suffering, culminating in a poignant plea for answers from higher powers.
