My first ever prose poetry collection read.

Alphabet Soup by A. Gregory Frankson is a compilation of 26 poetic letters. Each addresses a letter in the alphabet and a word that begins with that letter. The collection is a delicious soup of various emotions and thoughts experienced by its author. I devoured every one of them.

I love reading poetry. It challenges my mind and provides a fresh perspective on language, the world, and myself. To be honest, I have never read poetry in prose. Never. For me, it turned out to be an absorbing experience, and I’m grateful that I picked up this collection specifically.

A. Gregory Frankson’s language is rich in metaphors and descriptions; it’s intelligent and thought-provoking. It’s not like other poetry books that you can read half-asleep. You need to be fully awake and functioning to understand the extensiveness of his writing. That is why it took me quite some time to finish this one.

I liked how Frankson played with AI to build a structure for this collection. He asked AI to provide a sequence of letters different from the alphabet that had to start with the letter I. Such a symbolic choice.

Each poem raises Frankson’s personal experiences, and I should say its variety strikes right into the heart. Each letter has an addressee, a mysterious “you” who differs from letter to letter—a child, a friend, a relative, a teacher, or a spouse—and every time you feel that the poet refers to you, not another person.

I have highlighted many fragments from these letters but attached only my favorites to this post. I hope you will see their depth through them and pick up this collection. A. Gregory Frankson, my congratulations on the first publication! I hope to read more of your poetry one day. I thank Dundurn Press and NetGalley for providing an advanced reader copy.