Love Notes by Amanda Oaks 30 pgs. $8, numbered edition of 50 Verve Bath Press www.wordsdance.com Review by William Taylor Jr. Amanda Oaks' new volume of poetry is titled Love Notes, and is a collection of 30 short, often Haiku-like poems that read, well, like love notes. The poems are filled with lush and erotic imagery, and collectively draw you into a world of crumpled bed sheets, longing sighs and soft kisses. The pieces often feel like little snapshots or stills from a film. They often ache sweetly with desire but are refreshingly free of pathos. Each piece is a little treasure and definitely reward repeated readings. #19 (one of my favorites) reads: your thigh/brushing mine/is like a thousand doors/moaning open/all at the same/time. One of the wonderful things about this collection is that is unapologetically and unabashedly feminine, and serves as a much needed antidote to the glut of overly macho Bukowski aping work that fills much of the small/independent press today. These love notes are ones you would love to find pushed under your door or left on your windshield where usually you would find only parking tickets. The books are a limited edition of fifty and are lovingly handmade in a fashion that well compliments the words inside. Another fine release from Verve Bath Press, and I certainly look forward to more. --