By: Ava Gladdin, Poetry Reviewer
Orion Carloto is an Instagram-famous blogger mostly known for her aesthetically pleasing online existence. In the fall of 2020, Carloto published a book called Film for Her, a journal-type collection that was soon considered “poetry.” I explain it that way because I, myself, had not thought about this book being a part of a poetry collection. I picked it up in a bookstore one day, eager to look through the poetry, but was instead met with lots of aesthetic photos, a short story, and mostly prose throughout. While it isn’t uncommon for poetry books to house art, I was a bit disappointed once I made my purchase.
Carloto’s collection is more of a hybrid of prose and art, with some poetry sprinkled in than an actual poetry collection. The art in the book is very aesthetically pleasing to the eye, however, I wish that it connected to the work better. A lot of times, the photos do not match the vibe or contents of the poems that they are situated next to. I also wished that there was more poetry and less art throughout the collection. The largest issue that I had with this collection overall was the content. I found that a lot of the poetry was either too simple for my taste or was too vague, and it did not lend itself to being understood.
The first poem that I read in the book was “The Magnitude of Torture.” This unfortunately fits the stereotype of “Instagram poetry,” where it is one single sentence broken up over multiple lines. In some cases, I enjoy that, but I found these poems overdone and too simplistic for my liking. With this type of poetry, there is very little left to the imagination. This can be seen in the poem “They Said Paris Was For Lovers”:
The rain came pouring down
The moment I landed in Paris—
It’s almost as if she knew
That I was arriving.
A poet is only as lonely
as their company.
Perhaps that’s why
I decided to come alone.
I feel this poem shows how shallow some of the poetry really is in the collection. It feels very low effort. I would have loved to get more depth into how the rain felt or even how lonely she feels as a poet in Paris. With there being so few lines with any depth, it cuts the writer’s talent short.
Although I found several of Carloto’s poems to be shallow, there were a few that I enjoyed; poems like “Orphan’s Lullaby” and “Slow-Dancing with the Reaper” had a lot more depth to them. They do a lot of deep diving into parental relationships and death. “Orphan’s Lullaby” discusses the loss of youth as well as the growth into adulthood by writing lines like:
“I cant let go of the idea
of losing my youth
or the idea of you both
becoming a prayer away.” (17-20)
I also enjoyed the section of “Slow-Dancing with the Reaper” where it specifically highlights how she imagines the Reaper coming to take her:
“Dare he be kind and understanding—
modest in my passing? Will he cast
the moonlight across my flustered face
before sending me off into the unknown?
Or will he come with vengeance?
Eager to wrap his heavy palms
around my pretty neck and
snap me into a nightmare
I will never wake up from.” (9-17)
This part of the poem was thought-provoking, and I liked the imagery that it gave. The photo of an older person clutching their necklace alongside the poem was a nice addition to the piece.
I enjoyed the poems that included themes of death, parental relationships, and other, profound subjects. I appreciated her diving deeper into her childhood in this collection. I thought that by dissecting these topics, it gave the collection some depth. I fully expected it to be mostly about trotting through LA, but I was wrong: there was only a bit of trotting.
Overall, her prose is okay in the book. It was much better than the poems in my opinion, but still fell flat for me. I opted not to read the short story out of pure disinterest. Carloto’s poetry, however, dives deep into her childhood and experience with parental figures. It has a very aesthetic layout and frequently crosses the line of “Instagram poetry.” The collection was just okay, and I found myself not thinking much of it once I closed the book. I would suggest this collection for someone who enjoys more simple poetry, as well as someone who prioritizes aesthetics.