Twist by Bruce Parkinson Spang is a poetry collection that traces a life lived in two halves — the half spent hiding, and the half spent finally becoming oneself. Spang grew up in 1950s America, the son of a demanding, physically imposing father, in a household where conformity was not optional. The poems move through childhood with painful clarity: The Halloween mask that felt stitched to his face for decades, the belt unloosed in the closet, the summer evenings chasing DDT trucks through Lake Wawasee, and the sixteen-year-old boy weeping alone in a basement over Marilyn Monroe's death, not yet understanding why. At the center of the collection is Spang's experience of growing up gay in an era when the word itself was inadmissible — the French kiss with a boy named Michael on a picnic table that would take forty years to make sense, the first date after coming out at forty-eight. This is a book about the long, slow, costly distance between a person and their own truth.

Bruce Parkinson Spang's writing is mature, precise, and deeply felt. The pace of the collection is deliberately measured, building in intensity as the reader moves through each of the four sections. Spang populates the collection with unforgettable individuals: the boy in the Frankenstein mask, the brother finding peace in the nocturnal sound of trains, and Michael, whose basement suicide is addressed with direct, heartbreaking intensity in one of the most moving poems. The themes of shame, survival, and late-arriving self-acceptance run throughout with a restrained tenderness. I found myself returning to certain poems simply to sit with them again, which is the clearest sign of a poet working at the height of his powers. Twist is a collection that stays with you long after you close the book.

Twist, a collection of poetry by Bruce Parkinson Spang, is a memorable, emotionally enticing, and meaningful, memoir-like book that surprised me with its diverse richness. I say "memoir-like" because each poem tells a story and involves a past happening existing in the author's mind. Many of the poems are heavy with emotion and tell Bruce's story, of his strict father, of his longing to be the son his father wanted, and of his longing to come out, which happens only in his late forties, when he goes on his first date with a male partner. There are several mentions of his longing for male love, of passionate kissing, of dreaming about love. A poem that truly stood out tells of the day Marilyn Monroe died, of Bruce's crying, of him remembering and thinking of her as the only person he really loved.

Twist is a twist in the narrative, a twist in what an American boy should be, have, and want. A theme that is revisited often, mindfulness (of time and place), shows how all that exists and all that we are exist perhaps only in the past tense and how the present is never to be truly captured, perhaps never fully appreciated. This ties in with the boy the author was, the time he was old enough to know that he was different but not old enough to understand why, and the man he eventually becomes and is still becoming. It's a richly layered collection with several deep and meaningful elements that show off Bruce Parkinson Spang's artistry and poetic capability.

“A good life? we thought. What’s that?” It’s a valid question, one that many of us ask many times throughout our lives. Do we have a good life? If so, what defines this good life? In Bruce Parkinson Spang’s Twist, his poetry vibrates with deep thoughts on life, love, and what it means to be ‘different’ in a world, in an era like the 1950s, where (and when) difference isn’t acceptable. The author speaks of his yearning to find acceptance for who he really is, to find a love that makes him feel really alive. Being gay in the 1950s wasn’t something to brag about. One was expected to carry on as if the norm of life was what everyone else expected. But was it? And was it possible to ‘come out’ mid-life when the world became (slightly) more accepting? It’s all about coming home, accepting who we are so that others can accept us, too.

Bruce Parkinson Spang’s book, Twist, is a collection of poems that speak volumes about life. Even the simplest of events, like walking the dog with your partner, can mean so much more than just walking the dog. The poems are tender, heartfelt, and compelling as the author is weaving a poetic memoir of his life before and during his years of coming out. Mostly in free verse, the poet has a powerful sense of simplicity in his choice of descriptive words and metaphors. Even the choice of a title for this collection defines the multitude of directions a life can take as one struggles to find a place where they can belong, prosper, and be truly loved. A deeply moving collection of poems.

Twist by Bruce Parkinson Spang is a rewarding poetry collection about being true to oneself. Spang reveals his sexuality and lifelong search for genuineness. Bruce wanted to be himself since he was a third grader living at 10 Arlington Avenue, but it took him forty years to emerge as himself. Bruce describes his first French kiss. It touched something deep inside him, and Bruce felt they were speaking in another language and understood each other’s words. Bruce revisits his childhood memories and shares them with the reader. Bruce remembers the boy, pants down after being spanked by his father. Then he remembers his father’s words on his deathbed. His father wanted to know if he had lived a good life, as if Bruce could forget his father’s discipline and insults.

In Twist by Bruce Parkinson Spang, the author accepts the journey that led him to marry his husband. After forty years, Bruce found what he was looking for, and he and his husband had a peaceful and love-filled life. From early on, no one could silence Bruce once he eased into words, and it became part of him. He has written an extraordinary book of poetry and shares his childhood and his feelings with readers. The poems are moving and an accurate account of his past. Some of the poems made me laugh, while others made me cry. The writing is exceptional and full of emotion. It was so much more than just poems. For me, it was about a man staying hidden until he felt free enough to embrace who he was.