Regression Songs., by Beatrice Timken

Poetry, chapbook, 24 pages, from Bottlecap Features.

Regression Songs. is a series of laments. Arising in the wake of a period of petulant and indulgent self-hatred, the poems in this collection sleepwalk ever-forward, despite often longing to wind back towards the past. Swiveling between a veneration for some prior self and a near-dogmatic rejection of nostalgia, this chapbook is one of restless reflection.

Shame and desire both play here, but subdued- the shame in your most secret, quiet habits, the desire to feel the roughness of your fingers tracing over your own skin. These are poems for those who have felt as if their whole lives are often caught in their throats.

And yet, despite the trepidation, these poems are of walking forwards.

Beatrice Timken lives in Olympia, Washington. Her work has previously appeared as a part of Another New Calligraphy’s Impossible Task. This is the first chapbook that she has published that she did not print at the library and leave copies in quiet corners around town. Beatrice occasionally writes under the pen-name Periwinkle and is often dazzled by ordinary things.