THE MELTING POINT, poetry by Robert Fillman
Publication Date: April 15, 2025
Paperback, 84 pages
ISBN: 978-1-966677-01-7
The title poem of Robert Fillman’s new collection recalls watching as a child his uncle being interviewed on TV about losing his job as a welder, “summing up his life / in a thirty-second spot, / his words broken up / and clumsily put back / together.” This signals much of what is examined here – the metaphor of melting as an act both of binding and of coming apart, the portrayal of working-class life often absent in poetry, and the inadequacy of language to convey the fullness of existence – but there is nothing clumsy about the way he puts his words together. Instead, they are searingly honest, even when he writes of his wife’s weakened heart, or the generational trauma of abuse hearing his father’s voice “when I yell at my son,” or his daughter listing “When DADDY Drinks Too Much” among her pet peeves. He confesses his uneasiness with legacy and the expectations of manhood, admitting “I have never held a gun,” never hunted, instead buying his meat at the butcher counter. “I’m glad that nothing rustles / in me.” Even if not bloodlust, quite a lot rustles in Fillman’s verse, and we feel it throughout these pages.
Praise for Robert Fillman & The Melting Point
Robert Fillman somehow manages to be both serious and funny at once, sly and direct, wry and heartfelt. Who would have thought that a poem could embody so many contradictory energies and not sink under its own weight? Fillman’s work keeps returning to the lovely intersection between dailiness and mystery. Poems like “Buying Ice at the Wawa for My Wife,” in which a stop at a convenience store becomes a meditation on the fragility of life, remind me of why I came to poetry in the first place. The Melting Point is stunning.
—George Bilgere, author of Cheap Motels of My Youth
The Melting Point builds on the momentum of Robert Fillman’s previous book, House Bird, in its continued exploration of the everyday in search of the poignancy and depth so many of us miss in the daily sameness of our lives—he can turn taking out the garbage into a transcendent experience. In the wake of harsh masculinity with its coded silences, he finds ways to redefine tenderness and toughness. The difficult intrusion of illness, the lingering effects of hard work, and both the ravages and comforts of alcohol, all cast their shadows over the ordinary homes in this fine collection. Fillman writes of the heartfelt complications of family life with the skill of few poets writing today, reminding how its subtle edges can cut deep.
—Jim Daniels, author of Comment Card
About the Author
Robert Fillman is the author of a chapbook (November Weather Spell, Main Street Rag, 2019), and a full-length poetry collection (House Bird, Terrapin, 2022). His poems have appeared in Salamander, Spoon River Poetry Review, Tar River Poetry, and many other journals. In addition to poetry, his literary criticism has been published in ISLE: Interdisciplinary Studies in Literature and the Environment, CLAJ: The College Language Association Journal, College Literature, and elsewhere. Fillman holds a Ph.D. from Lehigh University and is an assistant professor of English at Kutztown University. He lives in Macungie, Pennsylvania, with his wife and their two children.
Publication Date: April 15, 2025
Paperback, 84 pages
ISBN: 978-1-966677-01-7
The title poem of Robert Fillman’s new collection recalls watching as a child his uncle being interviewed on TV about losing his job as a welder, “summing up his life / in a thirty-second spot, / his words broken up / and clumsily put back / together.” This signals much of what is examined here – the metaphor of melting as an act both of binding and of coming apart, the portrayal of working-class life often absent in poetry, and the inadequacy of language to convey the fullness of existence – but there is nothing clumsy about the way he puts his words together. Instead, they are searingly honest, even when he writes of his wife’s weakened heart, or the generational trauma of abuse hearing his father’s voice “when I yell at my son,” or his daughter listing “When DADDY Drinks Too Much” among her pet peeves. He confesses his uneasiness with legacy and the expectations of manhood, admitting “I have never held a gun,” never hunted, instead buying his meat at the butcher counter. “I’m glad that nothing rustles / in me.” Even if not bloodlust, quite a lot rustles in Fillman’s verse, and we feel it throughout these pages.
Praise for Robert Fillman & The Melting Point
Robert Fillman somehow manages to be both serious and funny at once, sly and direct, wry and heartfelt. Who would have thought that a poem could embody so many contradictory energies and not sink under its own weight? Fillman’s work keeps returning to the lovely intersection between dailiness and mystery. Poems like “Buying Ice at the Wawa for My Wife,” in which a stop at a convenience store becomes a meditation on the fragility of life, remind me of why I came to poetry in the first place. The Melting Point is stunning.
—George Bilgere, author of Cheap Motels of My Youth
The Melting Point builds on the momentum of Robert Fillman’s previous book, House Bird, in its continued exploration of the everyday in search of the poignancy and depth so many of us miss in the daily sameness of our lives—he can turn taking out the garbage into a transcendent experience. In the wake of harsh masculinity with its coded silences, he finds ways to redefine tenderness and toughness. The difficult intrusion of illness, the lingering effects of hard work, and both the ravages and comforts of alcohol, all cast their shadows over the ordinary homes in this fine collection. Fillman writes of the heartfelt complications of family life with the skill of few poets writing today, reminding how its subtle edges can cut deep.
—Jim Daniels, author of Comment Card
About the Author
Robert Fillman is the author of a chapbook (November Weather Spell, Main Street Rag, 2019), and a full-length poetry collection (House Bird, Terrapin, 2022). His poems have appeared in Salamander, Spoon River Poetry Review, Tar River Poetry, and many other journals. In addition to poetry, his literary criticism has been published in ISLE: Interdisciplinary Studies in Literature and the Environment, CLAJ: The College Language Association Journal, College Literature, and elsewhere. Fillman holds a Ph.D. from Lehigh University and is an assistant professor of English at Kutztown University. He lives in Macungie, Pennsylvania, with his wife and their two children.
Publication Date: April 15, 2025
Paperback, 84 pages
ISBN: 978-1-966677-01-7
The title poem of Robert Fillman’s new collection recalls watching as a child his uncle being interviewed on TV about losing his job as a welder, “summing up his life / in a thirty-second spot, / his words broken up / and clumsily put back / together.” This signals much of what is examined here – the metaphor of melting as an act both of binding and of coming apart, the portrayal of working-class life often absent in poetry, and the inadequacy of language to convey the fullness of existence – but there is nothing clumsy about the way he puts his words together. Instead, they are searingly honest, even when he writes of his wife’s weakened heart, or the generational trauma of abuse hearing his father’s voice “when I yell at my son,” or his daughter listing “When DADDY Drinks Too Much” among her pet peeves. He confesses his uneasiness with legacy and the expectations of manhood, admitting “I have never held a gun,” never hunted, instead buying his meat at the butcher counter. “I’m glad that nothing rustles / in me.” Even if not bloodlust, quite a lot rustles in Fillman’s verse, and we feel it throughout these pages.
Praise for Robert Fillman & The Melting Point
Robert Fillman somehow manages to be both serious and funny at once, sly and direct, wry and heartfelt. Who would have thought that a poem could embody so many contradictory energies and not sink under its own weight? Fillman’s work keeps returning to the lovely intersection between dailiness and mystery. Poems like “Buying Ice at the Wawa for My Wife,” in which a stop at a convenience store becomes a meditation on the fragility of life, remind me of why I came to poetry in the first place. The Melting Point is stunning.
—George Bilgere, author of Cheap Motels of My Youth
The Melting Point builds on the momentum of Robert Fillman’s previous book, House Bird, in its continued exploration of the everyday in search of the poignancy and depth so many of us miss in the daily sameness of our lives—he can turn taking out the garbage into a transcendent experience. In the wake of harsh masculinity with its coded silences, he finds ways to redefine tenderness and toughness. The difficult intrusion of illness, the lingering effects of hard work, and both the ravages and comforts of alcohol, all cast their shadows over the ordinary homes in this fine collection. Fillman writes of the heartfelt complications of family life with the skill of few poets writing today, reminding how its subtle edges can cut deep.
—Jim Daniels, author of Comment Card
About the Author
Robert Fillman is the author of a chapbook (November Weather Spell, Main Street Rag, 2019), and a full-length poetry collection (House Bird, Terrapin, 2022). His poems have appeared in Salamander, Spoon River Poetry Review, Tar River Poetry, and many other journals. In addition to poetry, his literary criticism has been published in ISLE: Interdisciplinary Studies in Literature and the Environment, CLAJ: The College Language Association Journal, College Literature, and elsewhere. Fillman holds a Ph.D. from Lehigh University and is an assistant professor of English at Kutztown University. He lives in Macungie, Pennsylvania, with his wife and their two children.