Bryan’s debut full-length poetry collection highlights his strengths, which lie unassuming in the copse of loss and unmistakable insight. “Wedding Toast” is a perfect example of this, with its concise cadence and lilt mimicking the rhythm of the heartbroken. Then, there are events cleverly woven within that hint at simpler times, allowing one to breathe and recapture the hope the proverbial bluebird offers. Before long, Bryan’s poignant malaise surrenders to the soft curls of grief escaping the page. There are even moments that seem to be nothing more than that: a moment. After all, isn’t that what enticing writing is, a moment captured? It is everything, “And nothing. That’s it.” No bird may live in Bryan’s title, but the allusion is alive and beating in his writing.

Grace Black, founding editor of Ink In Thirds