Orion Lander describes his (I think...) first full length poetry collection as "a poetical cry", a paen of some sort to modern times, and Notes on the End does seem to accomplish that on certain levels. Lander does have something to say, several somethings, about heartbreak, and loss, and toxic relationships, and the decay of modern society, climate change, and finding hope in the darkness. These are all excellent topics for poetry, and the kinds of things that can be woven into a collection, but the absence of concrete language makes Notes on the End ring slightly hollow for this reader.

That said, I am not sure concrete language or specific imagery was necessarily Lander's goal. A jog through his published bio and a look at some of the other things listed on his Amazon page tells me that Orion Lander is far more interested in mood and impression than in creating something as tangible as Rodney Jones "For Katy", as durable as Joy Harjo's "Perhaps the World Ends Here", or deliciously specific as Danez Smith's "Dinosaurs in the Hood". Lander is creating a vibe, and in that he is successful in imparting heartache, or loss, or resilience, and the glimmer of hope at the end of a long night.

A few of the more successful poems in this regard are the three "Interlude"s that punctuate the collection, "Reflections After Stumbling Across Someone's Photoshopped Selfie" in the first half of the collection, "Don't Want to Leave Like This" towards the end, and the haunting second poem "I'm Exorcising You Tonight".

An overall interesting collection from a poet who has published quite a bit, but never before in this volume, Notes of the End is a collection for readers who want to spin some slow jazz, dim the lights, and just feel vaguely for a while.