Alone with Love Songs is a very personal, almost biographical, collection of poetry by Edwin Romond. Most of the selections in this collection focus on jewel points in Romond's life that have had either an immediate or reflective impact on him, lending the book an overall sense of nostalgia and reminiscence. This includes several poems about his son at various ages ("Bald Spots" being the most inspired), and a few protest poems regarding the recent war in Iraq that, while passionate and direct, lack any solid impact: The few poems in which Romond takes a moral stance are ironically the least powerful, most notably "To My Lifelong Friend Going to Prison" and "At the George W. Bush Room of Empty Chairs." Conversely, less pointed or autobiographical poems such as "To My Neighbor" and "After 11 years" are thoroughly compelling and will stay with the reader long after they put the book down. With the highs and lows that any collection of poetry is going to contain, Alone with Love Songs is a solid collection from an accomplished poet. ( )