Fanged Dandelion by Eric LaRocca is a collection of poems that will yank violently on your heartstrings, but still flow smoothly like a perfectly choreographed dance.
In the introduction, the reader will learn that Eric wrote many of the poems during the COVID-19 lockdown, and that mood certainly shines through here and there.
Full disclosure: I was given a free copy of this book by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This did not affect my rating in any way.
Let’s dive in!
My Thoughts on Fanged Dandelion by Eric LaRocca
Forward by Sara Tantlinger
What a beautiful forward! I loved that Sara dove into the history of the word dandelion and played on that throughout.
Introduction by Eric LaRocca
Such a heartfelt and brutally honest introduction. I love that Eric was comfortable opening up and giving readers a bit of personal backstory and then to explain how he was feeling when writing these poems. Intrusive thoughts are definitely something I wish we could all talk about more openly without fear of judgement, so props to Eric for discussing this topic here as well! I didn’t know what these types of thoughts were, and that not everyone has them, until very recently. That absolutely blew my mind.
This was such a great collection for me to start with. I read poetry back in school and I would just get so frustrated with it. I think I have a mental block that’s holding me back. I tend to take poetry too literally and it make me overthink it. I get upset when I don’t think I understand or think there’s another meaning than just the obvious but I can’t quite grasp it. I’d love to work on this so I can open up my reading range a bit more. It’s my own fanged dandelion that pops up to tell me I’m not intelligent enough to read poetry.
My favorite poems from the collection included Venom In Bløøm, His Grinning Spine, Lovesick Arms, A Mother Is A Kind Of God, Handle With Care, Night Tide, If It Bleeds (Interlude), and Crawlspace (Epilogue).
Here are some of my notes about these poems-
Venom In Bløøm –
This one hit home for me. Of course I can’t say exactly what this poem means to the author, but for me it really reminded me of how my husband has unintentionally helped me through a lot of my bad days with depression and anxiety without even really being aware that he’s sucking out the venom.
His Grinning Spine –
Woah, the more I read this one, the more dark it seems!
Lovesick Arms –
How heartbreaking!
A Mother Is A Kind Of God –
Phew, I loved this one. While longer than the others, this one really had me deep in the world this one had set up. It was tragic but also beautiful as it was full of motherly love.
Handle With Care –
A gut punch of a poem.
Night Tide –
Intrusive thoughts.
Thimble –
Another heartbreaking one! Religion is a tough one for me simply based on how rigid their beliefs are and how close minded it makes them.
If It Bleeds (Interlude) –
Oh no! This one makes me want to know more! Should it be taken literally? Is it emotion-based? Something else?
Crawlspace (Epilogue) –
Spooky! About another personality or about depression?
My Final Thoughts on Fanged Dandelion
I will definitely be returning to this one again very soon. I need to read more poetry in general and I’m so grateful for being given the opportunity to start with this collection!
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