The Explosion Takes Both Legs: Noir Poems from the War in Iraq. J. B. Stevens 2023. Middle West Press

The Explosion Takes Both Legs: Noir Poems from the War in Iraq (2023) is not for everybody. Stevens has accomplished an authentic collection of self-struggle that must have been both terribly difficult and highly therapeutic to write, but I fear the wrong person would read it either as a trauma-inducing deep-dive into the very real struggles of returning veterans, or worse, a kind of combat fantasy. I cautiously recommend it for those looking for raw experiences from their poetry.