Feeling This Way

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From the crushing pain of loss to the elation of new love to the struggle of forging your own path, the messages in this book are ubiquitous, but also distinctly personal to the reader. This site uses cookies to deliver our services, improve performance, for analytics, and (if not signed in) for advertising.

in a way, it felt very elementary with similes that fell short and untitled poems––i craved a depth and complexity that these poems never quite delivered. Ben's first book of poetry, ‘Intoxicated Heart’, was released in 2019 and his sophomore effort, 'Feeling This Way', was published in June 2022. For my taste the writing style is a bit too literal and leaves almost nothing to interpretation, but after I started reading this with a bit of sad music in the background it hit different.At first I read this with the plan to really focus on the poetry but then realised how simple and straightforward the poems are.

It was so incredibly beautiful and relatable yet Esqueda speaks about a partially closeted-romance which at first I didn't completely connect with emotionally.This was my first time reading a book of poetry, aside from things I've read in my English Literature classes, and I think this was a perfect book to start with as it was relatable and comforting in a way that was unexpected. The variety of form in these poems makes it really lovely to read and makes the emotions truly jump off the page. Yet the way in which he discusses his past relationship suddenly does become understandable in a sense that the reader sympathises with his situation. Didn’t really resonate with a lot of them at the time of reading but when I’m feeling those ways, this book will be great to go back to! Probably because it offers another perspective that still connects with you and makes you feel that you aren't alone in your feelings which is quite nice, especially when feeling low and gloomy.

As I mentioned previously, this was more frustrating than anything as I feel this poet has real considerable prospectives. So my final thoughts are, if you need to something to help you cope with conflicting and complicated thoughts about your relationship, whether that me romantic or platonic, read this.

What really hit home even more was that I was reading this through a tough time, which possibly affected me even more because it did hit me like a ton of bricks at certain lines. This work didn’t feel cohesive, I found myself really resonating with a singular line, only for the rest of the poem to consist of what seemed like random words thrown together. But it also makes you realise that if you think this person is truly worth it, then don't leave because you are scared. If you’re going through heartbreak you will probably love this book, however as I am not maybe my perspective is harsh.