The first of two recipients of the inaugural Elban-Magana book grant, “My Mental State Has a Midwest Shape” is a poetry collection that focuses on mental health, anxiety, grief, childhood trauma and a writer feeling both trapped by and homesick for his small Kansas town and its familiarity. Written by Nicholas Grooms, a popular Kansas poet and musician, is a work that blurs the line between his daily feelings and observations in the real world, volleying into inner thoughts and anxieties beneath the surface. As an East coast native, my knowledge of Kansas is as limited to me as most of its outsiders, but this book illustrates a clearer picture for the audience looking in. Even in his mind, in the best and worst of times, the sunflowers still grow and the wind never stops blowing. Grooms has a way of taking his traumas and making you feel the brunt in one line and in the next, you are pulled back on to your feet by his wit, feeling hopeful as he passes his mental rock bottom with a penned smirk.
@nicholasgroomsraps
While he flexes through the obvious grief periods that come along with heartbreak or the untimely loss of a parent or friend, he impresses most in poems like “Instant Grit” (a piece in which Grooms focuses on weight issues and battles with binge eating) or “To Tame the Wild Phlox” (a poem about an overnight Amtrak ride comforting and conversing with a stranger newly out of rehab). Certain pieces in this work read like poetic rants and raves while others read with the still and calm of a few deep breaths and a moment to rationalize and think.
It is a testament to his talent of creating voice in his work, as each piece individually finds its tone without much effort. Inspired by poets like Lemon Andersen, Tricia Warden, Taylor Mali and Jason Ryberg, it’s simple math when figuring out how Grooms subconsciously blends styles and finds a formula all his own. This book is delicate, truthful, heart wrenching, thoughtful and sometimes flat out mean in its honesty from a writer who seemingly thrives while writing about the life he has lived in his boldly proclaimed “Two States”. Every person who lives (or has lived) in the state of Kansas should read this book. Out of staters, you too, would be obliged.
You can follow the author on Threads, Instagram and Tik Tok at @nicholasgroomsraps . for more information on this book’s upcoming release.
