the sexual repression collection

by Nicole I-Nesca

The Sexual Repression Collection is a trip through the heavy-lidded, wine-haze reality of life and love. Emotionally uncensored, free-flow writing at its rollicking best.

64 pages, Paperback

First published March 2, 2011

Reviews

[April Bradford · Rating 4 out of 5]

’The Sexual Repression Collection’ is bursting with raw emotion and the beautiful sort of poetry that feels as though it's fallen straight out of the poet's mind into the reader's lap.

The collection is free verse and largely experimental. Nesca alternates between exaggerated prose to other poems with only a word or two on each line. While the latter creates an easy rhythm, the former, along with the lack of punctuation can detract from readability. This is certainly a collection to read out loud to find the natural rhythm.

Along with the experimentation in form and unique enjambment, Nesca offers fresh and varied ideas in her poetry. She has carefully crafted more original phrases in a single line than some poets express in an entire piece. I particularly enjoyed the surreal, almost mystical, imagery.

“i felt eternity many eyes beheld the
vision barking spider perched howling at the moon”

“wounded doesn't mean dead so remove the pennies from
your lids”

Nicole Nesca’s writing feels rebellious, honest and confessional. There are infinite layers to explore, best enjoyed with a glass of wine and an inquisitive mind.

[Joseph Spuckler · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Sexual Repression Collection by Nicole I-Nesca is a collection of free verse poetry. Nicole I-Nesca was born in Ohio. She developed a love of music, painting and writing early on and continued that love throughout her adult life. While living in Canada, she completed her first body of works The Sexual Repression Collection. She has been published in several E-Zines and has been a part of two anthologies. She and her husband, Tony, are the editors of the underground publishing company Screamin' Skull Press and resides in Winnipeg.

I-Nesca style of writing goes well with being read aloud. The reader will capture much more of the rhythm and flow of the poems hearing them. The work contains an interesting mix of themes. One that runs through the work is that of a Catholic sense of guilt in terms of sinners, saints, absolution, and transgressions. It is balanced with rich imagery:

marzipan dreams and schemes of a tomorrow
unintentional free willing letting the virus filled
propagandized agendas ignoring bigger brother
hypocrisy foaming with power handed over by me
you he she and the guy across the street now
raging from cages barking howling complaining
about money oil and the toils boiling society

~ "hungry"

The lack of punctuation, capital letters, and lines that do not complete a thought create a dreamy, surreal, landscape for the reader. Again, reading aloud does help create some mental boundaries with the structure without disturbing the flow. Poems like "Pinata" explode into being bringing color and emotion to the poem.  A collection well worth reading and exploring.  Not every reading will give the same meaning.  The style is open to interpretations.  The form is free-flowing.  Pausing a word sooner or later may change the meaning.  It is a wonderful and hazy state of poetry. 

[Mil Ana · Rating 5 out of 5]

My first encounter with Nicole I Nesca's words, through @screaminskullpress and i'm left mesmerized by the power of those words. This collection on love, lust, pain, on honesty, hypocrisy and sacrilege, ethereal, nostalgic, sensual, feels like a trip into the subconscious, the scenery otherworldly but vivid, the emotions tender, powerful, vulnerable and brutally honest.
Loved it 💖