Peter Lilly’s newest collection of poems, An Array of Vapour, is a call to us all to reconsider how we see homelessness and drug addiction. These poems challenge us to not only become more keenly aware of these global issues that we encounter every day in our cities, but to understand the pain and struggles that exist on an individual and personal level. The poems strike with honesty and openness and are not always easy to read. We often side-step people living on sidewalks not fully comprehending the generational trauma that is worsened by drug use, but Lilly’s pieces do not allow us to simply pass them by. While Lilly writes carefully about people and their struggles that many of us would rather not consider, he also causes us to rethink our own addictions to social media and how much time we spend looking at ourselves instead of at others with more compassion. This collection, though, is something greater than despair: it’s hope. It’s the simple, and intimate, act of washing another’s feet, in seeing the other’s uniqueness and beauty under the grime and dirt of existence. It’s in the belief that each frozen life can be thawed out, to be useful again. In one of the last poems in the collection, Made, Lilly reminds us that while addictions made us weathered, blemished, and stained, we can be re-made. These poems speak of loss and hurt and pain and despair and invite us into the world in which so many live daily; but, more importantly, they express hope that still exists for all, that feet will rise from the dust. This is a worthwhile and impactful collection that sheds light onto difficult subjects and will stay with you long after you close the cover.
Peter Lilly’s book An Array of Vapour is available for purchase both as paperback and e-book. Cover art by Silje Lilly.
Deryck N. Robertson lives and creates in Peterborough/Nogojiwanong, Ontario, where he is an elementary educator. His work has appeared with Roi Fainéant Press, The Minison Project, Orchard Lea Press, Loft Books, and forthcoming with Vital Minutiae Quarterly and DarkWinter. His first chapbook, All We Remember, was released by Alien Buddha Press in 2021. He is the Editor-in-Chief of Paddler Press and has a couple of songs on Spotify. When not writing, he can usually be found drinking maple roast coffee around a campfire or in the stern of his canoe in Algonquin Park. You can find him online @Canoe_Ideas, @PaddlerPress, and deryck.ca.