Eyes Bottle Dark with a Mouthful of Flowers by Jake Skeets

Winner of two major poetry prizes, this is Skeets’ debut work. Triplett calls out the sonic quality of Skeets’ work in this collection as a major draw: “There’s some narrative in the poems, but often the driving force is sound. Which is challenging, a little bit, as a reader, but challenging in an exciting way; to put sound and image together alongside queer adolescents on a reservation.” Triplett notes that this quality in Skeets’ work is one that “begs to be read aloud” and in one sitting.