Forthcoming from Broadstone Books in April 2025, The Melting Point is currently available for pre-order from the publisher. (Use discount code POETS24 when you check out for 20% off your order.)
Back-c
over Blurbs for The Melting Point:
The Melting Point builds on the momentum of Robert Fillman’s previous book, House Bird, in its continued exploration of the everyday in search of the poignancy and depth so many of us miss in the daily sameness of our lives—he can turn taking out the garbage into a transcendent experience. In the wake of harsh masculinity with its coded silences, he finds ways to redefine tenderness and toughness. The difficult intrusion of illness, the lingering effects of hard work, and both the ravages and comforts of alcohol, all cast their shadows over the ordinary homes in this fine collection. Fillman writes of the heartfelt complications of family life with the skill of few poets writing today, reminding how its subtle edges can cut deep. –Jim Daniels
Robert Fillman somehow manages to be both serious and funny at once, sly and direct, wry and heartfelt. Who would have thought that a poem could embody so many contradictory energies and not sink under its own weight? Fillman’s work keeps returning to the lovely intersection between dailiness and mystery. Poems like “Buying Ice at the Wawa for My Wife,” in which a stop at a convenience store becomes a meditation on the fragility of life, remind me of why I came to poetry in the first place. The Melting Point is stunning. –George Bilgere