In his debut collection, R. B. Bunn explores the devastation of grief in the face of losing an uncle who battled addiction. Through a deeply personal lens, this collection explores the weight of mental illness and the effects of witnessing self-destructive cycles from a young age. Each poem becomes an elegy for an uncle whose battle with addiction left invisible wounds on both his life and the lives of those who loved him.
With unflinching honesty coupled with a sense of compassion, this collection traces the painful realities of watching someone slip away from both life and from themselves. It reflects on how addiction shapes memories of that person and how they can distort family ties. With Crossing the Sea of Glass, R. B. Bunn grapples with the complexities of love, loss, survivor's guilt, and the need for healing. All while trying to honor the good parts of his uncle's soul, yet also not shying for the darker aspects that were at times, all too easy to dwell on.
In his debut collection, R. B. Bunn explores the devastation of grief in the face of losing an uncle who battled addiction. Through a deeply personal lens, this collection explores the weight of mental illness and the effects of witnessing self-destructive cycles from a young age. Each poem becomes an elegy for an uncle whose battle with addiction left invisible wounds on both his life and the lives of those who loved him.
With unflinching honesty coupled with a sense of compassion, this collection traces the painful realities of watching someone slip away from both life and from themselves. It reflects on how addiction shapes memories of that person and how they can distort family ties. With Crossing the Sea of Glass, R. B. Bunn grapples with the complexities of love, loss, survivor's guilt, and the need for healing. All while trying to honor the good parts of his uncle's soul, yet also not shying for the darker aspects that were at times, all too easy to dwell on.
Disclaimer:
This poetry collection contains allusions and descriptions of heavy subject matter. This includes, mental health, substance abuse, alcoholism, death, emotional distress/rage, and possible cutting/self-harm. Please be advised before going forward with this work.
The Helper
Providing help to others was his life
Continuously – whatever the strife
His gift lovingly given out for free
His giving heart was no hyperbole
A carpenter, one gifted with great skill
Hammering, sawing, building with his will
His way to show his love for everyone
The quality of his work not outdone
A smile danced constantly across his face
Heart open always, giving his embrace
So easily, like he’s a gentle breeze
Providing shelter, like a strong oak tree
Like everyone he was at fate’s mercy
The love he gave made him more than worthy
Still helping despite his own inner pain
But to accept it, he himself distain
Ballad to Halcyon Summers
The summer sun shines from on high
And dragonflies do dance
From uncle’s deck, I spy the sky
And to my host, I glance
The charcoal plains do burn and smoke
As he lays down a steak
A summer ritual awoke
His smile can soothe all aches
Veggies do sear on iron bars
Savory smells do waft
That whet the appetite at large
Those days and times were soft
The friends and family did come
And laughter abounded
The party dancing to a drum
Our joy then resounded
White clouds and locus chirps herald
A time idyllic bright
Almost like a summer carol
The times with him were light
He drank the drink of glass red stars
To celebrate the time
Instead of drowning out the scars
From pain that was sublime
Yet, my ungracious self could not
Appreciate the days
My youthful mind could not have thought
That this was just a phase
A Dark Reflection
When I see you, I see myself
Carved in someone else’s body
What the future could have for me
It’s complicated tapestry
The independence and spirit
Friends abundant like blades of grass
Soaring high on the winds of life
Feeling the joys of that great flight
The trials and the toils and the troubles of
Aching emotions, swollen and heavy
And a sense of loneliness despite it all
And the feeling of impending downfall
I coveted that free spirit
Not broken before it was born
Unbound inhibitions seen
Through a lens that stretches and screams
Feelings turned sour, bubbling
Acidic fire started coursing through
Spreading rot throughout my body
The start of us being rocky
The rot left your touch prickly
Yet your hands were smooth as water
I saw what I wanted to be
Yet I also wanted to flee
Futile Games
I’m playing a game of Russian Roulette
With all six gun barrels filled with bullets
Each shot loaded like a guilty question
As I put my finger on the trigger
I pull, bang, the bullet rips through my head
Tearing through bone, muscle, and memory
One shot’s not enough so I try again
Another bullet, another question
I hold a knife in my hand preparing
Spreading my fingers, poisoned are my thoughts
The knife’s hilt I stop to look, engraved there
Four words, six letters, what and if I see
Blinding myself with a cloth marked ego
I’m ready to start this self-indulgence
First stab, I miss, second stab grazes skin
The third stab the knife gives my skin a kiss
The blade’s tongue sharply forcing its way in
Drawing out my blood, drawing out my shame
Just as the bullets were loaded so is
This unwanted lover’s tongue, working in
I remove the ego, seeing the result
The blood cost of these futile games I play
Each drop a reminder of what wasn’t
Each drop lost to this war of questioning
Most games like these, the cost to play is high
It’s alluring, enticing, but empty
Knowing this doesn’t make me stop at all
Even now, I know this is wrong, I’m sorry
A Caress of the Past
You walked together, side by side entwined
For him, the thread of life was cut in two
He fell to earth, finding its embrace kind
Yet as he fell, he grabbed onto your shoe
You knelt to peer into his eyes of blue
You grabbed his hand, and he became the past
You froze in time, but the world moved on fast
His flesh melted like snow in the spring sun
The bones yet bound you like links to a chain
Even as bits and flakes broke off and spun
The dried blood, a rope of thorns to cause pain
Against those forces, you would come to strain
As time marched onward, you didn’t keep pace
Unable to move yourself from that place
Spring flowers and grasses consumed your form
The summer sun scorched and sizzled your skin
Rusted leaves fell around while autumn stormed
Winter’s wind froze from without and within
Staying in place, to move would be a sin
At least to the heart of someone possessed
Waiting and yearning for the past’s caress
Sorrow Was Her Crown
The gardener gave birth to a bloom
Planting the blood seed
Out in the earthly womb
It grew with great speed
With tender loving touch
She watched the flower grow
Her devotion was much
As her labors came to show
There was a time, in it’s prime
Where it stood tall and strong
To the sky it seemed to climb
But there was something wrong
Leaves began to blight
And petals withered like skin
Obvious was its plight
The gardener in a tailspin
She repotted the flower
And trimmed back it’s leaves
But this was beyond her power
Despite what she believed
Plant food, an emergency shot
Along with fervent prayer
Yet it could not stop the rot
A truly tragic affair
The gardener knelt down
By the ruins of her labor
Sorrow was her crown
Her skin white as paper
Penned by fantasy author, turned poet, R.B. Bunn, Crossing the Sea of Shattered Glass is a poetry collection that brings together all of life's highs and lows to the forefront in drama and style. Coming in at just under eighty pages, Crossing the Sea of Shattered Glass touches on powerfully emotive themes including family, loss and rebirth, whilst also drawing heavily on emotive landscapes and dramatic storytelling. Split into three distinct sections: Disembark, Storms at Sea and Landfall, personal highlights from this collection include the poems "The Helper", "Sorrow was her Crown" and "The Fishing Rod".
Dripping in raw emotion, Crossing the Sea of Shattered Glass is also home to a wide variety of poetic forms, from traditional four line rhyming stanzas, to a page of pacey two line stanzas, right through to concrete poems (such as "The Bottle" which is formatted / shaped on the page as its namesake). The use of concrete poems alone is such a rarity in poetry collections like these, and Bunn's inclusion of them here is a welcome sight in amongst the storytelling of light and dark.
With a gorgeous cover design and a beautiful title to boot, it is hard to not want to read this book over and over again, knowing that each time there will be something new for readers to reflect on. While it is worth noting the book includes themes such as substance abuse and alcoholism, the author does include this advisory at the start of the collection. These topics represent a strong backbone of Bunn's work here, however in many places the content is weaved in such a way that it is not as hard hitting as it could have so easily been. In this regard it manages to tread a fine line with skill and grace.
Crossing the Sea of Shattered Glass has to be one of the top poetry reads of this summer. Brilliantly executed, it is by all accounts a five star read.
AEB Reviews