Sit Down and Have a Beer Again by Greg Wyss

Author and poet Greg Wyss has gathered a career’s worth of musings, stories, and verse in his eclectic collection, Sit Down and Have A Beer Again.

Reminiscent of the pacing and subject matter of Charles Bukowski, at times, the poetry is gritty and raw, yet still polished. Reflecting on everything from laziness and responsibility to loyalty in relationships and the grind of work, these are everyman poems, shining an honest light on the exasperating business of being alive. “The Poem I Never Wrote” is a standout, capturing that unique tone of visceral human experience. Tired and begrudging as the tone can sometimes be, there are brilliant splashes of humor, grace, appreciation and even love within these pieces.

From a technical perspective, however, there are a number of grammatical errors, even in the titles of certain poems (“Pedestian” vs “Pedestrian”), which could be easily fixed. The enjambment choices in some poems are also questionable, resulting in some forced phrasing, and another edit could eliminate repetitive poems or reorder the collection to feel more diverse.

Those critiques aside, Wyss captures the attitude and ennui of an entire misled generation, offering a poignant portrait of the analog past before some literary communities were overtaken by consumerism, resulting in a hard-edged, unapologetic, and reflective collection.

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