Shambolics, by Harold Whit Williams

Poetry, chapbook, 32 pages, from Bottlecap Features.

The haphazard poems in Shambolics are more than just dashed-off diatribes against reality scribbled scattershot upon scratch paper. They also pin down points in time and (head)space of an aging artist hedging his bets and reupping for regrets. They whinge, they cringe, they go upon a sadness binge.

Williams’ latest micro-collection is his messiest (and most adventurous) yet. There is his trademark gallows humor and cynicism, but also a hint at some hopeful bright side. The light is within / It was always there — he writes. Bask in its glow until it is snuffed / Wasn’t that enough?

Harold Whit Williams is a prize-winning poet, longtime guitarist for indie rock band Cotton Mather, and the author of ten books of poetry and one book of short stories. He is also the recipient of the 2020 FutureCycle Press Poetry Book Prize, the 2014 Mississippi Review Poetry Prize, the Robert Phillips Poetry Chapbook Prize, as well as multiple Pushcart Prize nominations. Williams lives in Austin, Texas, where he is the Head of Metadata Services at UT Libraries, all the while writing, recording, and performing his solo music under the moniker Daily Worker.