BOOK REVIEW: GRIT BY SILAS DENVER MELVIN
GRIT is this author's first book of verse, it was published in 2021 as an ebook. Silas Denver Melvin is a young poet with a strong resolve. Resolve is tested over and over and over in this collection of autobiographical events/poems. This reader found that each poem in Melvin's collection stands strong independently while simultaneously telling a gripping story as part of the body of work. This reader was surprised by the depth of the adversity Silas dealt with based on the facts of his gender. Silas writes "In the old world, before the body awakened and raptured." These words imply a non voluntary action. Silas did not choose to be awakened nor would a reasonable human being choose rapture. As the boy moved into adulthood a very challenging transition was forced upon him with puberty. The world demanded that he choose a traditional gender and has never stopped that repetitive and redundant request from the first time he appeared on the scene as transgènder. Society(in his eyes) looked upon Silas like a circus freak. Silas takes this judgment and stays in the game rather than choosing to hide in the safety of the conformists or make a sad exit from his own life. Is growing up about becoming a man, woman, or simply a bigger target for society's arrows of hate? The answer is none of the above. Growing up is about demanding that the world recognizes Silas as a human being with the same powerful heart and soul of the women and men of the town.
As a child Silas is free as a bird. The world does not care much about defining gender roles or appearances when children are young. However, as time passes more and more gender related expectations are placed on Silas. Eventually Silas is stuck in the middle of the two camps. The middle school years and beyond bring more unnecessary classification which leads to intolerance. Instead of being treated as a highly unique individual in a town of other special teenagers Silas is treated as someone on the outside that must be separated from the impressionable gender traditional students. Silas has nowhere to go. There is no one else like Sila when it comes to the gender question.
The brave Silas must walk through the intolerance and inexperience of peers, state employees, family, and even old friends. The movements of social rebellion are not enough for this teenager. He is a true original punk and gets high on walking through the events of coming out with the spirit of the western tradition behind him. Like a rough and weathered cowboy. Any open minded reader will feel the emotional isolation and tension which this author does such a great job of expressing. GRIT could not have a better name. A true American story. The author must tread carefully through life, as carefully as the Apollo astronauts once took the first steps on the moon.,
Written by Edward Storm
