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Reviewed by Katie Lewington for Readers' Favorite
Beginning with a poem describing loneliness, I already knew this collection was not going to be an easy read. The poem ‘Who am I?’ sent chills down my spine. There are poems in Shadowed Tears by A.M. Torres on control, tears, being an outsider, being the middle child, the unknown, depression and insomnia. The voice of these poems is plaintive and pained, full of longing and anguish. The poetry in this book feels numb and you also feel numb by the final page. I truly felt as if I had had a bucket of ice tipped down my neck. The narrative is sparse and simple, there are no metaphors or fancy prose here. I did hope this might look up and there was a brief respite with ‘Goodbye to Life.’ ‘Sweet Kristofer’ and ‘Grandpa's Visit’ are two poems in Shadowed Tears actually set in the present and not so much much focused on emotions, but people. This gave a view into the life of the narrator.
I don’t think the subjects of Shadowed Tears are so varied, although I did not weary of turning every page, horror and empathy dawning on me as I read of the suffering of the narrator. Shadowed Tears is a compelling collection of poetry, which led me to wonder how personal and cathartic it was for author A.M. Torres to write these in ‘The wee hours’ as one poem describes. I am not sure if this will give insight to those people fortunate enough to not have had depression, but it might be a comfort to those who have, and might relieve them of it whilst they read.
