Poetry Book Reviews

A mournful and musing collection of poetry in every form, Pricking Balloons by James C. MacDonald is both existential and immediate, dissecting a myriad of events, ideas, and feelings through his unique lens.

Divided into four sections titled with names of cities, some poems do feel tied to locations, but many others are biblical, philosophical, familial, and nonspecific. The New Orleans pieces feel like poetic questions, touching on sacred words and secret messages, ideals, and beliefs, but there are also intimate snapshot poems of tragedy and change, such as “The Little Girl in the Canal Street Mall” and “Crescent City […]

A poetic collection dedicated to writers who have changed the world with words, Masters of the Craft by Don Gutteridge is an impressive homage to the written word and a pleasure to read.

From Shakespeare and Shelley to Blake and Wilde, each poem upon these pages honors the skill and impact of a legendary lyricist. Importantly, Gutteridge knows the work of these masters intimately enough to gift them a worthy tribute: “the fury / of his fame could not save him / from the ruin of Reading Gaol / and he perished a pauper in Paris,” or “There isn’t a […]

A “Western-born author with Eastern sensibilities,” Barton Johnson delivers a one-a-day collection of intimate haikus with Five Seven Five. Drawing less on natural imagery and more on deep, personal introspection, these 17-syllable offerings are stark and powerful, each one polished and tightly edited for maximum effect.

Just as months and seasons have their own personalities, Johnson has grouped these haikus under loose themes – “January” questions independence and personal disappointment, “February” focuses on the trials and triumphs of family, “March” is a series of prayers and reflections on divinity, and so on throughout the year. Whether readers consume this […]

Imbued with the wisdom and patience of age, Fading by Stephen R. Clark is a tender reflection on the strange wonders and sadness of life.

This collection of more than seventy poems is a sprawling narrative woven in different poetic styles and a myriad of moods. From heartfelt recollections of childhood to observational musings on landscapes, household objects, long-held beliefs, and lost love, these pieces comprise a memoir of sorts, spanning Clark’s entire life, and capturing it in humble, unassuming verse. The poet elevates even the simplest thoughts or passing moments to sacred heights through his power of observation, and […]