Action poet Sheri-D Wilson’s fourth collection of poetry begs to be heard, not read. Her raucous, outrageous style and dark humour are evident in poems about work, sex, and relationships. Wilson’s world is raw with emotion – often rage – directed outward to the reader or viewer. Her patience is tried by ignorance, and the result can be hilarious poems that leaven an otherwise bleak poetic landscape.

Wilson feels driven to defend her writing as work when it is questioned by strangers. “Making a living / as an independent artist” is difficult, she tells the “little prick” who persecutes her in Calgary. Her writing is reminiscent of the Beat poets – Allen Ginsberg and Jack Kerouac appear in the collection – whose poems exploit the sound and meaning of words and dance off the page into the reader’s mind. Like the Beats, Wilson’s lyrics are intimate, defiant, and bold. Often banned for its explicitness, her work has grit.

Some of the most moving poems in the volume evoke erotic love shared by women. Having rejected sex with men as either too dull or too dangerous, the speaker celebrates her desire for the woman she adores. These love poems assault the reader with a brash, newly discovered sensuality. The physical body draws the speaker to her lover, where “longings turn into wind – straining – trying to catch desire / as it lifts in the air – holding – I want you.”

Several of the longer pieces – called “poemologues” – are powerful works of performance. In one piece, a woman is seduced by her friend’s abusive spouse, and her pleasure shocks the reader more than it does the speaker herself. The repetition of words and sounds renders the erotic dance of sex in “… And Back Again.” And, for a delicious taste of Wilson’s humour, we read of a woman consumed by her own talking vagina. How’s that for bold?