Poetry

Museum Exhibit by Tom Brown

Museum Exhibit by Tom BrownExperimenting with form, content, and emotion, Museum Exhibit by Tom Brown is a surprising, probing collection that runs the gamut from classical odes to modern free verse.

Some of these delicately penned poems resemble snapshot musings of cultures and older times from around the world, flowing smoothly between the Middle East examined in “Pashmina,” to the simple homage of “Philadelphia Highboy,” and the sound of “Virginia’s Violin” in the echoing beauty of the Shenandoah Valley.

Nature, emotion, and philosophy also blend freely in these pieces, as in the poet’s natural worship in “Wildflowers,” with their “exquisite fine art perfuming in […]

2021-03-09T05:29:27+02:00March 9th, 2021|Categories: New Releases|Tags: |

Review: Beowulf: A Verse Translation from the Anglo-Saxon by Andrew B. F. Carnabuci

Beowulf: A Verse Translation from the Anglo-Saxon by Andrew B. F. Carnabuci

More than 1,000 years after the epic poem of Beowulf was first penned, Andrew B. F. Carnabuci continues a long tradition of demystification and offers up his own take with Beowulf: A Verse Translation from the Anglo-Saxon.

What remains unchanged in this accessible and unbiased translation is the story itself: the tragic and triumphant life of Beowulf, a great Scandinavian warrior whose bravery and leadership has become the stuff of legend. Beginning with his youthful battles in Denmark against the infamous monster Grendel, and Grendel’s even more malevolent mother, it doesn’t take long for the Beowulf to demonstrate his […]

2021-04-08T11:27:24+02:00March 8th, 2021|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: , |

Review: Growing Pains: Volume 1 (Raw Mind) by Evan McMillan

Growing Pains by Evan McMillan

Evan McMillan releases a torrent of biographical poetry in his raw and unabashed collection Growing Pains: Volume 1 (Raw Mind).

Notably, there is a clear autobiographical story woven through these bursting lines of passion and vulnerability. The poet is a man who has faced numerous heartbreaks and disappointments, he’s been failed by multiple systems, and he has even been betrayed by his own body’s desires, so the collection often feels like a cry of rage into the void.

As he explains in his introduction, there is “… no trying to say the right thing. It’s pure expression, spilling out […]

2021-04-28T04:39:35+02:00March 3rd, 2021|Categories: Book Reviews, Lead Story|Tags: , |

Review: Perspective to Pen, Edited by Ben C. Ward, Created by Robert A. Cozzi

Perspective to Pen: An Anthology, Edited by Ben C. Ward, Created by Robert A. Cozzi

The work of twelve talented poets overflows the pages of Perspective to Pen: An Anthology, created by Robert A. Cozzi and edited by Ben C. Ward. This collection touches on every imaginable angle of the human experience – abstract and symbolic musings, bold political statements, heartrending commentaries on love, and vivid personal recollections of childhood and lost memory.

Lisa Bain fearlessly explores grief and perseverance with unconventional structure and commonplace imagery in her work, while Brian Fuchs hurls powerful political demands as easily as he shares vulnerable vignettes of pain and loss. Shanika Benoit’s work resembles mantras and meditations, […]

2021-01-26T09:47:56+02:00January 12th, 2021|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: , |

Cloud Thoughts by Daniel Strong

Cloud Thoughts by Daniel Strong A visceral and heartfelt work of lyrical poetry, Cloud Thoughts by Daniel Strong explores the trials and tribulation of everyday love, loss and living, for an intimate, confessional collection.

Without the typical adornments of romantic poetry, these pieces, with titles ripped from the heart of the verses, are more reminiscent of song lyrics, or stream-of-consciousness recollections. From the endless longing of unrequited love to whimsical musings on drunken nights out, these poems range widely in both subject matter and seriousness. That sort of flexibility works well in these primarily narrative pieces, giving readers a multi-dimensional view of the poet’s heart […]

2020-11-20T04:52:43+02:00November 19th, 2020|Categories: New Releases|Tags: |

Review: Fragments: The Long Coming Home from Vietnam by Bruce K. Berger

Fragments by Bruce Berger

Bruce K. Berger, a profoundly insightful poet and decorated veteran, has finished a decades-long journey in Fragments: The Long Coming Home from Vietnam, offering a distinctly unique glimpse into an infamous war.

This striking collection of poems is a wide-ranging and unforgettable examination of his life-changing experiences in that bloody war, the indescribable damage that it wrought both at home and abroad, and America’s endless stream of military conflicts, a legacy that rings powerfully in today’s grim geopolitical atmosphere. These poems are gripping, each in their own way, representing a piece of the poet’s personal journey, from raw, unforgettable […]

2020-12-03T05:52:47+02:00November 3rd, 2020|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: |

Review: Side Steps Terrorizing Sound Bites by Amy Jean

Side Steps Terrorizing Sound Bites by Amy Jean

A poetic guide for choosing an authentic life against a global backdrop of injustice, Side Steps Terrorizing Sound Bites by Amy Jean is a creative and powerful collection, accompanied beautifully by illustrations from Eric Savage.

With the underlying theme of taking control of one’s life, rather than being swept along with the systems in place, these poems are empowering, accusatory, curious, and fearless. The subject matter of these lyrical passages varies wildly, from the wonders of the natural world to inequality of all kinds, yet each of the poems in this extended “chime” feel carefully constructed, without wasting words.

Jean […]

2020-12-02T09:24:22+02:00October 26th, 2020|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: |

Review: Perfectly Round Ripples (Made by a Jagged Stone) by J. Flaherty

Perfectly Round Ripples (Made by a Jagged Stone) by J. Flaherty

In the first, eponymous selection in the engaging collection, Perfectly Round Ripples, poet Johnny Flaherty recalls throwing three objects into a pond—a golf ball, a jagged stone, and “an old sneaker with laces missing.” They all splashed differently, but then, each one

…made perfectly round ripples

that traveled all the way

to the farthest shores

From this Flaherty suggests that our deeds, whether good or bad, will likewise make equal, round ripples in the cosmic sea – a motif reflecting the serene and emotive nature of these poems. He often returns to water, to the sea, for inspiration, as […]

2020-11-09T05:09:07+02:00October 5th, 2020|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: , |
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