If the House Is Inclined to Collapse

Against the backdrop of small towns built atop schist and granite, surrounded by violently cold, blue-gray Atlantic waters, Casey Lynn Roland's If the House is Inclined to Collapse offers poems that are both deeply personal and all too universal.

After a messy struggle to reconcile witnessing loved ones' battles with illness followed by their subsequent deaths, Roland fought through addiction to recovery, and with this collection offers a nod to a more hopeful future. And while the loss and toil behind many of these poems are not unique, they supply different considerations for their outcomes-what if, after the intensity of pain, we learn to embrace the stark contrast of the intense beauty that comes next?

In many ways, these poems are also a love letter to New England-its grit, its rough edges that both harden and heal. Roland illustrates how the Northeast gets under your skin, and these poems only begin to peel back the layers, revealing hurt and joy in equal measure.