American Entropy

By: Travis Hupp
Publisher: Atmosphere Press
Publication Date: July 22, 2025
ISBN: 979-8891326996
Reviewed by: Shrubaboti Bose
Review Date: June 20, 2025

Travis Hupp’s poetry anthology named after its titular poem American Entropy laments the decline of democracy and criticizes the hypocritical nature of American society. As an openly gay person representing a marginalized community, the author uses his poems to voice his personal dissatisfaction with the way things are. His unflinching candor in lashing out at the president (‘‘pillars of society weakened by a lying charlatan’’) and justifiable misgivings about the current political scenario in the country (‘‘nowadays disagreement might mean death’’ in Martyr), encourages readers to raise questions. Drawing inspiration from his nightmares, hallucinations and painful memories, the author delves deeper within his mind to bring out his darkest emotions onto the paper for us to see.

The collection is thoughtfully organized into six parts, starting with anger, politics, metaphysical, despair, then finally ending on a positive note with hope and love. Each poem is filled with sensory imagery and lyrical cadence, densely packed with metaphors that are subtly weaved into the lines. Sometimes the subject of the poem dominates the words, as in Enemy Embrace where the narrative revolves around the poet’s agonizing experiences of homophobic violence, culminating into a survivor’s tale. While at other times, words can take shape of a sentient creature pulling the narrative along, like we see in Horror Show where Hupp compares the process of creating a poem to that of delivering a baby. This metaphor poignantly captures the hesitation authors often feel when contemplating over unfinished fragments of expressions, reluctant to discard them in hope of reusing them at a later point in another piece, like mothers reluctant to let go of their stillborn baby.

Despite the harrowing experiences he has gone through and the constant challenges he keeps facing in his everyday life, the author never stops fighting his demons, nor does he give up writing. Here’s a quotation of a few lines from a piece titled It’s not too late: ‘‘Yesterday droned on destitute/ My meaning got lost and my muse went mute/ But there’s a part of me that still knows what to do/ Power through and write what’s true.’’ What is inspiring is that even on days when he feels particularly depressed, he writes ‘‘You’ve got to realize/ you’re stronger than the stranglehold/ when sadness is a riptide’’ and then ‘‘You got all the guts you need/ and plenty of nerve’’ in the poem Resurrect, as a means to remind himself to keep going. It is evident that these poems can serve as a source of strength to anyone who needs it.

The poem Untamed seems to be written as a tribute to music, where Hupp elaborates on how art, and music in general, has influenced him over the years. He says, ‘‘It’s art that helps you fight to survive/ Gives you anthems to sing in the dark.’’ He believes in good faith in spite of the discrimination he faced in the name of religion. After being treated as a blasphemy and a disgrace, he condemns such acts of false propriety and writes: ‘‘In whose version of justice/ would God shun sons and daughters/ of his own craftsmanship/ for an endless infernal sentence/ of parental neglect and abandonment’’ in I’m lost if you’re lost. Towards the end of the anthology, as the poet’s tone becomes slightly optimistic, we find two lines in a love poem called Wonderstruck, ‘‘with you nearby me/ minor details escape’’ that resonates in our hearts.

Quill says: Hupp’s collection American Entropy is a journey of emotions: intense, powerful and beautiful, while also impressive and inspiring at the same time.

For more information about American Entropy, please visit the publisher’s website at: atmospherepress.com/books/american-entropy-by-travis-hupp/.