Ashley Haynes

MARK SAMPSON, BIG WILSON.

Fredericton, NB: EMERGENCY FLASH MOB PRESS, 2023. $10.00.

Big Wilson is a thoughtful, moving collection of poems about becoming your own person while living in the quiet Canadian provinces. The poems follow Big Wilson (don’t call him Dickie) as he ages from a child and into a man. His journey is shown to the reader in powerful vignettes as he goes about his life.

Big Wilson struggles to separate himself from the generations of failed musicians that populate his family tree, and this desire for freedom is a wrench in his maternal relationship—one that remains there even through his mother’s passing. Sampson does a wonderful job of portraying Big Wilson’s desire to be his own person despite the provincial or familial obstacles that seem determined to stop him.

The people Big Wilson loses shape the person he becomes, which is someone who always seems to be looking for something. There are several other characters in this chapbook that come and go, revolving around Big Wilson like a carousel. The sudden events that bring these people into or out of his life are so random, yet so genuine, that I really felt for Big Wilson. He never seemed able to catch a break. Even true love seemed impossible to keep. In a poignant stanza Sampson writes:

Except is it normal for

A wife to sleep this much?

Is it normal for a wife

to cough this much? (Sampson, 17).

These lines transition from a rare moment of happiness and success into one of heartbreak and tragedy.

There is so much happening in this collection, and it is truly a talent to be able to shape such realistic characters in 29 pages of poetry. The story of Big Wilson is raw and beautiful in the way that real life often is. It tells the story of someone going through all the honest and difficult moments of life, and really shines a light on the complex simplicity of being human. After reading this I am reminded that nothing is promised, life will throw curveballs, and happiness can be found even in grief.

Ashley Haynes

is a fourth-year student in the Creative Writing & Publishing program at Sheridan College. Her interests include photography, art, nature, and dystopian literature. She enjoys books and films that require her to think critically. Ashley has had ten short stories and two poems published with Polar Expressions Publishing, two of which received honourable mentions for placing among the top ten. Currently, Ashley serves as the Event & Communications intern for The Ampersand Review where she strives to help build up the community that she loves.