ombudsman's review
4.0
the only truly discomforting war poet since [a:Wilfred Owen|4242|Wilfred Owen|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1536705039p2/4242.jpg]. almadhoun makes it clear how war affects not only the immediacies of time and place, but continues to leave a mark even after it is "gone". the poet interrogates the very fundamentals of language that allow us to perpetuate this belief. in one searing turn of phrase, he turns his attention to metaphor: "I drown in you as Syrians drown in the sea/oh God/look where the war has taken us". we mask the atrocities that reside within our everyday speech; it takes someone truly original like almadhoun to wake us up to this fact.
More...