THE GOODBYE SONG

A collection offers poetry and prose across multiple genres and topics.

Flores plays with various forms in this ambitious volume. In “Poems,” he contemplates everything from insects and a beautiful woman to late-night thoughts and green smoothies. “Sonnets” transports readers to destinations like Kentucky and California. The brutal nature of love is the focus of “Haikus.” The “Letters” segment addresses unexpected subjects like progress, the sunset, and the pavement. “Scenes” highlights an awkward couple in a coffee shop, a gala-planning meeting, and a tense get-together between a mother and son. Among the “Objects” Flores expounds on are meltable microchips people snack on in the future and a gun that fails to fire for its suicidal owner. Personhood, Darwinism, and illusion are some of the terms unpacked in “Definitions.” The “Directions” section uses a GPS–like format to describe both exterior places and interior emotions. “Entries” features excerpts from various fictional characters’ journals, while “Recipes” presents tutorials in living. The author returns to poetry in the final section, “Secrets.” Poetry is Flores’ strong suit, where his verbs crackle with energy. In “Clover Mite,” he contemplates a small orange spider, “pebbling his way in nomadic routes unknown,” while recalling other arthropods and how he “smudged their guts.” His descriptions are unique and evocative, like a woman with “eyes like chandeliers.” And his poems reach insightful conclusions, such as: “I suppose the spirit has many things to say / And it is our mission to hear it and stay.” Among the flaws of this collection are the illustrations by Concepción interspersed throughout the book; rather than enhance the pieces, they distract. Flores’ humor occasionally misses the mark; a letter to the stomach, for example, ends with “There’s nothing like a good diarrhea on a Wednesday morning and thinking, ‘Damn. My stomach’s a whore.’ ” And despite the wide variety of formats, at over 300 pages, the sheer amount of content will test readers’ patience as they struggle to understand the common thread among the disparate offerings.

A smorgasbord of intriguing pieces that fails to find a unifying theme.