Review: Dion O’Reilly’s Limerence & Ghost Dogs
By Riley Miller
In Dion O’Reilly’s newest collection, Limerence, (Floating Bridge Press, 2025), she dives into the complicated and often turbulent terrain of intense infatuation, capturing the essence of a psychological state that feels deeply unsettling, yet addictive. Her poems prove that the strong emotions we associate with adolescence truly never die. She navigates this emotional language with a raw honesty, creating a group of poems that is sure to resonate with anyone who has experienced the consuming power of obsessive desire.
The word itself, limerence, deals with the state of intense longing, and O’Reilly seeks to explore the nuances of this state, moving beyond simple, romantic love and examining the unrequited, often painful, aspects of intense attraction. The poems act as a record of this experience, documenting the highs and lows of limerent attachment. However, she doesn’t shy away from the darker aspects that occur when experiencing an all-consuming obsession. Delving into the destabilizing effects of an abusive relationship, O’Reilly artfully constructs the idea of being connected to such a creature. The collection reveals the way in which this state can lead to delusion and even self-destruction. In “Sasquatch Hunter” O’Reilly writes:
[. . .] I loved
to watch him pulse with all the gods
of war and marriage, hell and volcanism,
whatever gods there are who make us
dream of brighter gods.
But he turned violent one day. I had to flee
from his machete, out the bathroom window.
This poem reveals the vulnerability and fragility that can accompany intense desire, and the potential for pain and disillusionment. Though limerence is perhaps the focus of the collection, there are still remnant nostalgic undertones, similar to those in her earlier collection Ghost Dogs. In “Wolf” she expresses,
I’m trying to forget a man
I don’t want to forget.
He could harp the strings of my body
with his spacetime eyes.
From time to time, O’Reilly can stun with this kind of rhythmic lyricism, which surprises all the more amidst her often straightforward language—reverie mixing with blurt. In both registers, O’Reilly succeeds because of her ability to explore the depths of human emotion, may it be crippling desire or childhood reminiscing.
O’Reilly’s Ghost Dogs (Terrapin Books, 2020), is an unabashed, unapologetic collection of poems about an aging woman grappling with an abusive childhood while reminiscing about finding solace in the presence of animals. The poems dredge into the spaces where memory, loss, and the natural world meet. With a keen eye for detail and a lyrical, yet often unsettling voice, O’Reilly navigates the complexities of grief and the never-ending reminders of one’s past.
As the title Ghost Dogs itself suggests, a sense of a spectral presence, a lingering energy, permeates the entire collection. The poems are not merely about dogs, but rather about the profound connections one forges with them, as well as the lingering void they leave behind. O’Reilly uses dogs as a lens through which to examine the human condition, as she delves into themes of morality, vulnerability, and the persisting ache that follows the loss of innocence.
Fittingly, the collection begins with several poems that serve as vibrantly elegiac. In “Ode to High Tea,” for instance, O’Reilly writes,
For the time it takes the afternoon light to cross the room,
we lift cups to our lips, taste how sun and mountain
mists cured the leaves from thousand-year-old trees.
By encapsulating the senses of her childhood, O’Reilly vividly places herself back into her memories. This expressive imagery is one of many strengths of the collection, as she paints both internal and external landscapes. O’Reilly also pulls from her own childhood experiences, as seen in poems like “Looking,” a piece in which she reflects on the darker elements of her youth:
Different from the dirt farm
where I felt lucky to escape for one day
the slash of the horsewhip, where
I was told to carry my plate to the floor.
With such an attention to detail, O’Reilly creates a tangible sense of place, tipping them into poems grounded by reality, yet brushed with melancholy and danger.
O’Reilly, though, solidifies herself as a poet of joy in this collection, grasping the lighter moments of her early life, even while working through the intense emotions that encompass a rough childhood. One can make note of this in her piece, “Old Black Water”, published online at New Ohio Review, as she grapples with intense feelings surrounding the loss of her friend Suzie yet finding the beauty in the situation.
Throughout the entirety of the collection, the poems are carefully structured, building upon one another. The cohesive narrative arc allows for the reader to fully absorb the emotional weight of each poem, creating a feeling that lingers long after the final page is turned. In Ghost Dogs, O’Reilly establishes a voice that is both intimate and expansive, and she encourages the reader to be reminded of the fact that brutal, hard-to-swallow feelings can coexist with a feeling of peace.
Riley Miller is a NOR intern studying English and Interdisciplinary Arts at Ohio University.
Buy Limerence Here!
Buy Ghost Dogs Here!
Buy Sadness of the Apex Predator here!
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