It's the middle of the night and you can't sleep. No particular reason, maybe the moon is full or you drank coffee too late.

Instead of wasting away hours in bed you sneak into your office with a cup of tea and a cozy blanket - the cat sneaks in with you. A small volume catches your eye and you can't help but pull it off the shelf. "Under The Callous"; you flip it open and are immediately pulled in.

You end up reading the whole book, thoroughly satisfied at 3AM. The next morning you can't stop thinking about that one line, and you flip through again as you have your morning coffee instead of scrolling instagram.

Details:

A book of poetry, prose, journal entries and short stories that use synesthesia and the vulnerability of personal truth to bring the reader into their own raw spaces and experiences. This book is an accumulation of the rawest parts of oneself; from sexy to scary, vulgar to vulnerable.

Readers Reviews:

“It acquaints me with pockets in/of my mind which I never knew existed, except upon meeting. It feels more like a reunion than a first date.. and I am afraid that when I get to the last page, I might forget how to keep nurturing this new relationship.. and maybe the reason this fear feels so familiar is that it is a remembering of how I have engaged in this form of abandonment before.. The eternal sunshine of my spotless mind” – A.J. Moon

““Under the Callous” grips you with a twisting of synesthesia. Forest Greenwell’s poetry hangs in the air, while her prose bring a nice weighty balance to the stories in this book. And it seems that is what “Under the Callous”, is. A weighty balance of love, loss and self-redemption. This book threw me into myself, and I thank it for that.” – Juma Perez

“Forests’ strong intuition, coupled with her poetic dialogue is both unique and charming… She relates easily to others just as others will relate to Forest in her most recent book of poetry and prose – under the callous. It is beautifully written, raw, and deeply real. It will absolutely leave you open-hearted and wanting for more. ” – Olivia Chelsea

Sample

I FEEL I’M MADE OF

HUES OF BLUE

LIKE KRISHNAS DEEP SKIN

MY JEANS WORNS IN

THE WALLS OF MY LATE TEENHOOD.

THE BLUE OF MY FAVOURITE BOWLS

MY FATHERS TOLD-YOU-SO’S

& MY MOTHERS LYING EYES.

THE BLUE OF MY BLOOD

IN THE PRIVACY OF MY VEINS,

ALL OF THE RAINS

THAT CLEANSE MY SORROW:

THE COLOUR OF THE INK

FROM THE LETTER A LOVER LEFT ME.

THE BRIGHTNESS OF THE SUN SETTING

SATISFIED.

TO THE DIM OF HIM RISING SOMBER.

OF THE MOON WITH HER PALEST GLOW

IN THE OCEAN ILLUMINATED.

HER INSOMNIATIC SLEEPS IN THE

CORNFLOWER BLUE OF MID-DAYBREAK.

SO MANY HUES OF BLUE

AND NONE OF THEM

LOOK GOOD ON YOU.

“ENTRY 21” – Under The Callous

Forest Greenwell

2019