LULLABIES FOR THE INSOMNIACS

A young woman struggling with bipolar disorder engages in metaphorical battles.

Foutz’s debut, a collection of autobiographical poems, presents her raw, firsthand experience with bipolar disorder, organized into the stages of a deeply personal journey. Part one—“time zones”—sets up initial definitions using metaphorical references to the polarity of natural phenomena. The second section, “survival log,” frames her struggles, including suicidal ideation and insomnia, during inpatient treatment. One shape poem, “Physics,” illustrates what it feels like to experience the pendulum sway of feelings. Allusions to gravity, atoms, chromosomes, and other scientific concepts appear throughout. The writing style reads like a confessional journal and utilizes the imprecise language of an inexpert poetic voice. Many of the stand-alone poems reflect metaphysical musings, and the work lacks overall cohesion. Readers become observers of the writer’s vivid—albeit frequently, exhaustingly repetitive—descriptions of inner turmoil, and they may not feel fully engaged with the writing. Later poems on Foutz’s recovery and coping skills take on a more mature poetic voice and play with sound devices and diction. Several poems discuss unresolved suicidal thoughts in ways that readers with similar struggles may find challenging, as in “To Die, To Sleep”: “Another pill— / Did I already take another pill? / If I take two will I die? / If I don’t take any I surely will. / My limbs are drenched in drugs like clothes in water / How many pills have I taken now?”

Raw, relevant, and well-intentioned but unrefined.