(let me whisper just this one time), by Alana Campbell

Poetry, prose, chapbook, 36 pages, from Bottlecap Features.

Alana Campbell’s (let me whisper just this one time) is a vivid personal diary and philosophical inquiry that merges poetry and prose as a mirror into vulnerability and reflection. Written in Florida throughout the 2020 pandemic, she writes through fragmented, intimate vignettes. Campbell stitches together a collage of experiences through a stream-of-consciousness style to recreate the waves of the Atlantic Ocean and the loss of what once was. The collection of poems and prose explores grief, loss, love, and memory as the author searches for herself in the reflections of her environment.

(let me whisper just this one time) resists being typecast into a single genre, exploring the susceptibility of existing. Campbell’s language is imagistic, relying on music, color, and environments to reflect the emotional states of each fragmented moment. To create a haunting familiarity of Florida, she writes of overflowing fountains, orange groves, crowded convenience stores, and the corridors in her dreams. (let me whisper just this one time) is a quiet rebellion against everyday life, inviting you to confront the pain of existence while laying you down gently in honesty.

Alana Campbell is a writer and artist from rural Florida, currently residing in the Lancaster area of Pennsylvania. She has a BA in Creative Writing from the University of Central Florida, where she concentrated on postmodernism. In her poetry and prose, she uses stream-of-consciousness to explore the realities of being a woman in contemporary times.