Review: Between the Dark and Light by R. William Parmenter.

R. William's debut poetry collection is deeply focused on mental illness, but what are my thoughts about this book? Read on to find out.

Note: Post is too long for email, so will probably be snipped. To read the full review, please do it in the blog, or your web browser.

A post long in the making— at least it feels like it to me. I’d been visiting this collection of poems off and on for the past couple of months. And a little over a week ago, I finally dusted off my kindle one last time and finished reading.

Between the Dark and Light is R. William Parmenter’s debut poetry collection, and it deeply focuses on mental health. Throughout the journey it takes you on, a sense of vulnerability and intense personal struggle washes over you. This book can be a lot to read in one setting, so it’s recommended to read a poem and then let it sit for a bit.

Now if this sounds like your cup of tea, you can order R. William’s book on places like Amazon, Barnes & Noble, among other places listed on Books2Read. And you can also subscribe to him right here on Substack.

As always, I like to split my reviews into four sections, covering different elements of the book. Each category is rated on its own, and then I average out their scores to give my overall rating. The sections in question are: Structure, Language, Writing, and Themes.

So what exactly do I think of this poetry collection? And what resonated with me as I read through it? Is this book worth reading, or purchasing? Read on to discover my thoughts.

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Lines. Stanzas. To rhyme or not to rhyme. All of these play a roll in making structure an integral part of a piece. And throughout a collection, each piece’s structure will add to the emotional pull.

R. William goes for a free form writing style. Some pieces, like Social Feed or Writer’s Block, are short and well-contained. Each is written with intent— reasoning to exist.

And other pieces have more to say, like Mourning Childhood or Panic. These pieces also contain intent, and you can feel R. William’s emotion inside them. There is a beautiful balance in his Structure— and as I read through this collection, I never lost sight of it.

As you’re writing a poem or any literary work, how do you choose the language you need for your piece? Do you rely more heavily on figurative, using metaphors, or personification and so forth? Or are you someone going for something more literal, or easy to understand?

Often, I like to think the best kinds of poetry or prose have a nice blend between the two. Some parts read better with a literalness conveyed through them, while other segments should feel deeper— creating a need for some to analyze and claw at. Searching for that hidden meaning.

I find that R. William achieves this time and time again throughout his work. He understands how to use language to propel his poetry forward. And because of that, there is never a dull piece. Take this excerpt from his poem Moth as an example.

This is a beautiful metaphor for losing the fear from one’s trauma, and attempting to feel perhaps, more confident. At the end of this piece, you don’t know if they truly managed to move past and grow. Just the idea of trying to though, that is what’s important.

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Oh whew! Okay, we’re back. I hate it when those ad break thingies just take over my screen— don’t you? Okay, okay! Look’s like we’re on the writing portion, and this one actually connects back to where we left off in Structure.

One’s writing is a huge part of what makes a poem or story phenomenal, or instead poor to read. If there’s bad grammar or tons of spelling mistakes it might be a headache. And if the language or structure isn’t compelling then you’re unlikely to feel drawn to their message.

However, as seen by the excerpt from the last section, R. William has a great sense of writing. You can feel every emotion he pours into his work, and it all comes together though his language and structure. Let’s look at one poem in particular, Box of Photos:

What does this poem convey to you? Can you feel the sensation behind it, how it moves you from one side of a picture to the next? This piece takes us through the embodiment of life, a reminiscence of the speed in which life moves. How you’re here one minute, and a memory the next. Maybe left forgotten about? But can that truly be?

A part of what makes a collection work is the themes. Which ones are chosen, and how do they mesh together? Is there a story they’re trying to tell? And does the tone of the work in the collection match those themes?

R. William’s poetry is heavy and weighted throughout, and yet as the title of the book suggests— there is light moments, like you can feel hopeful. Or things are starting to get a little better. The road can be uneven, and the journey long. But progress is still progress.

But to be more specific, in this collection you’ll find many themes like: trauma, depression, sadness, and hurt. But throughout it you’ll also find themes of love, hope, passion, and growth.

All of these come together in ways to make the work feel more meaningful. things you can relate to as you read. The crushing weight of mental health, and how it affects each theme. This is an area where R. William’s writing is really elevated.

And the story? It’s there, and it’s slow. It might not have the ending you may expect. But it’s a story of learning and again growth. That despite all these struggles, he is still here. In fact, you are still here, too. And that’s beautiful.

We’ve gone through each category of my review, and now it’s time for me to add everything up. But as you were reading, I imagine you could already assume what this’ll be. And you’re precisely correct, is indeed a straight on 5/5.

Again, I thoroughly enjoyed my time with this collection. R. William Parmenter is an incredible writer, and it showed all the way through. Of course, this is just my opinion. But I think it’s one many of you will agree with (as long as you give it a shot).

Now normally this is the part where I’d end a review. Y’know, tell you to go subscribe and stuff. And yeah, I’ll do that right now. If you like reading this type of content, hit that subscribe button. Yeah, the one below it. Good. Thank you.

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Did they leave? Are they all gone? (Did I screw this up by hinting at more content?) Wait, you’re still here? Oh… I was just going to share some additional thoughts on this collection. You sure? Okay, fine you got me. But I’m not going to spoil anything, haha.

Look, every time I review a poetry collection, I like to make a list of all the pieces which most resonated with me. This time is no different. So without further ado, here is that list!

There are so many amazing pieces from this collection, and here I’ve chosen five. But since you’re still here, I want you do something for me. After you’ve read each of these pieces— return to this review, and then share your thoughts about them. What did you take away from them? Tell me, I’ll listen.

Okay, it’s time to end this review for real, alright? You have your task ahead of you. So go buy a copy of that collection, and get started? It’s really up to you though. I’m just the reviewer. Buh-bye!