Saturday 28 April 2018

Last Stop To Saskatoon by Tony Nesca


Last Stop To Saskatoon by Tony Nesca
Published by Screaming Skull Press in Canada in December 2017.

Featured in Cover Characteristics: Railways

How I got this book:
Received a review copy from the author

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Where to buy this book:
Directly from Screaming Skull Press

One Book. One epic poem. An unadulterated, uncensored, stream-of-consciousness protest against the state of the world.

I've been very lucky with my take-a-chance-on-it poetry collections this month. Giant, Heirloom and now Last Stop To Saskatoon have all been amazing! Each work is very different poetically, but I loved exploring them. Last Stop To Saskatoon contains two poems. A Protest Song is the first epic poem I think I have read in many years so I wasn't sure how such a long poem would work for me. I needn't have worried! Tony Nesca swept me up in the first few lines and the energy in his words kept me reading straight through to the end. Twice!
love-sick smiles
and bloody afternoons under the hipster violence
and skinless thigh-high leather let-downs
with bust-up memories that coagulate your mind

This is a great poem to stand up and read aloud. If it's not already a performance piece, it certainly should be! It's angry themes spoke clearly to me as, even though Canada is referenced, the issues Nesca addresses are universal. I could just as easily envisage decaying British towns and fragmented communities, media-driven hate bandwagons and that orange monster! The nostalgia for a time of 'protest songs in the key of E' is cleverly evoked alongside a desperate present-day fury. I heard echoes of Dylan and Kerouac, both of whose writing I love, and a strong underground indie vibe that keeps this work vividly alive. Love it!


Search Lit Flits for more:
Books by Tony Nesca / Poetry / Books from Canada