Poetry Book Reviews

A soul-baring collection of melancholy poetry, Always Something Heartfelt by Ashton Harper dives into the poet’s complex journey through desire, romance, and heartbreak.

Harper’s poetry swings from pleading and passionate appeals to broken and bitter reflections, anecdotal memories captured in nostalgic verse, and off-the-cuff pushbacks against unwanted emotions. The poetry matures as the book progresses, expanding into ponderings of negative energy, selfishness, regret, personal responsibility, and mental liberation, but the undercurrent ideas of intimacy and an existential quest for love is consistent. Versatile in tone, form, and energy, Harper is a gritty poet who revels in vulnerable confession.

From a […]

A haunting and heavy anthology of emotionally driven poems, Marching with a Broken Shadow by Dyson Russell is a wide-ranging collection that tackles romantic ironies, universal agonies, and the simple pleasures of existence.

From reflections on nature’s nuanced beauty to kaleidoscopic analyses of true love and loss, these poems are unafraid to expose the unadulterated marrow of human experience. There is an exploratory and questioning undercurrent, and while musings on death, purpose, and love are common, Russell has a uniquely experimental voice that will make readers sit up and take note.

The diversity of the poems’ subject matter, length, tone, […]

Fiercely retelling the oldest chapter of Christian mythology, Andrew Chiniche has created an evocative and poetic epic with his newest work, Song of Lilith.

Representing the sinful, lustful, self-aware, rebellious, and untamed nature of humankind, specifically womankind, Lilith and her ilk have long been cloaked in biblical shadows and mystical rumors. Beginning with her deflowering by Adam in the Garden of Eden, finding refuge in the arms of Samael the archangel, and her legendary manipulation of Eve’s appetite, this is a biblical story few have ever heard. However, Chiniche’s portrait goes much further, with Lilith existing in different forms […]

Sagely addressing spiritual, societal, personal, and hopeful themes, Emma Mnaya-Buzy delivers a multifaceted and empowering work in her sophomore collection of poetry, As Day Alights.

Peppered with profoundly unique and powerful poems, such as the ominous and surreal “Quivering Light,” and the mystical “Kumbikumbi,” this collection defies classification and comparison. Mnaya-Buzy is boldly unafraid of slant rhymes, and cleverly blends rhyme patterns to create an unpredictable yet elegant rhythm in many of these pieces.

“Let Verse Pretend” is a particularly striking piece, with each stanza deserving deeper inspection, though the final hits hardest. There is no telling where […]