Precious Energy

by Shannon Bramer

Precious Energy , the fourth collection of poetry from Hamilton-born poet and playwright Shannon Bramer, is a uniquely playful collection of vibrantly sad, peculiar, and often funny poems about domestic life, motherhood, and the baffled child that remains within us all even as we grow up and into whatever person we keep trying to become. Featuring a coterie of subjects, from fish sticks and LEGO pieces to mothers too tired to have sex and solitary swans in everyone's basement, these poems dexterously navigate a landscape of domestic isolation, insecure attachments, and confused personal boundaries with honesty and unexpected humour.

Praise for Precious Energy :

"Shannon Bramer writes with a candor that is as clever as it is devastating. Through masterfully crafted studies of the everyday, Bramer transcends, in the manner of Lydia Davis, drawing the domestic into utter sublimity. These poems cut the crap, delving instead into the strange territory of the inner psyche so many flinch away from. It is not hyperbolic when I say  Precious Energy  contains some of the most affecting, unique poems out there today. I anxiously await her next collection." --Robin Richardson, author of Knife Throwing Through Self-Hypnosis "With this collection Bramer has redeemed modern poetry. She has wrestled it away from the academic arms of intellectual constructs while simultaneously destroying the notion of dainty phrases trapped in dusty tombs. These poems don't sit on a shelf but in the front of your mind on the tip of your tongue.  Precious Energy  is a must for anyone who has ever had their clothes drenched in a child's vomit, seen their cell phone as the enemy, momentarily failed to recognize their lover or wondered what the point of all this is. And these poems are funny! I can't recommend this book highly enough." --Andrew Kaufman, author of All My Friends are Superheroes and The Waterproof Bible. 

Genres: Poetry

112 pages, Paperback

Published September 7, 2017

About the author

Shannon Bramer was born in Hamilton, Ontario and now lives in Toronto. She is a poet, playwright and mother of three fantastic human beings. She is the winner of the 2023 David Booth Children’s and Youth Poetry Award.

Reviews

[Maggie Gordon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Precious Energy is a lovely, but often strange and dark little book of poems. There are several powerful entries on some of the more difficult aspects of being a parent, as well as a poem about cancer that I felt quite personally jarring, but appropriate. The poems range from beautifully lyrical to almost silted and anger at times. I must admit, I never expected anyone to write such an emotive poem about towels.

[Andrea MacPherson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some really striking poems in this fairly slim collection.