PRAISE FOR CAFFEINE
Bruce writes with a brutal honesty few poets nowadays dare to confront. He is writing for every one of us who has been hung out to dry by the cruelties and complexities of our individual lives. And he does this using simple language that says far more than its simplicity suggests. There is a wealth of learnt wisdom in his lines of "lightning". Caffeine is a rare thing - it is a tombstone, a declaration, a reflection of an old soul, yet it is tender, and Bruce's poems make it clear that the only form of redemption we will ever find will be through love. It is quite simply beautiful - what poetry, in the hands of a non-bullshitter, is capable of.
─ Martin Hayes, Poet and Author
Bruce has a rare talent to convey that raw emotion with such an electricity that you’ll have to pause to calm your trembling heart.
─ Steve Quade, Indies Today
Poems that drift like pungent steam from a late night cup of coffee in an Edward Hopper painting. Here the economy of Raymond Carver converses over a counter with Lorca's Duende, the verbal flair of Barry MacSweeny debates in a booth with Robert Burns' Romanticism, and through their echoes comes the lived experience of a troubled past that turns the present into a fragile and precious gift. W.B. Yeats said, "We make out of the quarrel with others, rhetoric, but the quarrel with ourselves, poetry", Steven Bruce’s new collection shines a creative light upon those inner voices that bicker during the Witching Hours.
─ Dr Bob Beagrie, Poet and Lecturer
This is the second collection of poetry by Steven Bruce that I’ve had the pleasure of reading. The author understands the human soul and condition better than anyone I've ever read.
─ Caroline Jaquish, Amazon
It's wonderful reading a book where you feel you’re in the hands of a writer who is at the top of their craft. Every poem in this book makes you feel that way.
─ Maggie, Amazon
Steven Bruce writes his poetry with a depth that most could never reach. A fantastic collection of tantalizing mind provoking literature.
─ Tony Hampson, Goodreads
You’re going to want this book on your library shelf.
─ Emily, Goodreads