Nineteen

March 16, 2020
Titled after the age at which the author wrote it, the second book from Campbell (2am Thoughts) fits into the growing category of poetry finding its audience through digital platforms such as Instagram. In spare poems with aphoristic lines and short prose segments, the book speaks to adolescent pain and suffering. “READ WHEN: you feel heartbroken,” a note remarks. “Find excitement in your solitude, there may come a day when you never get to live on your own again... I love you and I hope you love you.” To call these short meditations undeveloped would be missing the point; they appear intentionally set on sameness, offering raw, unpolished moments of feeling. In one poem, Campbell summarizes her generative process as follows: “I see things./ Then I feel things./ And then I write them.// The cycle.” Several of these poems provide motivational instruction: “You have a story worth telling./ Why don’t you stay awhile and entertain us?” and “Do not be afraid if you are/ the first print on an/ unbeaten path.” Moments like these will feel overly familiar and simplistic to serious readers of poetry, but these emotional snapshots may resonate with a younger audience.