Fancy Pants Poetry 2

Probably it's highly subjective when the relevance of every poem to a reader is involved as I find myself surprisingly detached and distant in reading this collection in contrast to my clinging with the first. If the first book can be considered a world of diverse thoughts and expressions, this one is probably the northern hemisphere of that world. There are maybe three or four gems I discovered (I like The Same Old Story, I Can See The End Ahead, Tough Times, and Unknown Road) after re-reading and reading again for the third time to at least reconsider the things that I might have possibly missed. The cover design on the other hand is a big improvement from the first.

The challenge in creating a sequel is how you maintain the quality to be at par with the first. I am giving this collection three out of five ratings simply because it is substantial as a collection and a sequel to the first book. This collection still has visuals and depth, but the "fresh factor" weighs heavier in the first collection.

Genre: Poetry
Rating: Three lemons

Agostino Scafidi's Fancy Pants Poetry

The title of Agostino Scafidi's collection of poems reminds me highly of a personal favorite Sam Raimi horror-comedy film---Army of Darkness (Evil Dead 3) where Ash Williams mocks Duke Henry the Red  as "Mr. Fancypants." This is the reason why (additional to the author's kind request for this review) I gave this collection a shot. It's a short book to begin with and given the free time, I was looking for a hidden gem inside this Fancy Pants Poetry and luckily, I have found more than one.   

I like the in-your-face simplicity of "Roger, Yankee, Foxtrot" and the visuals of "A Place To Go." I like the mystery of "Secrets" and the cliched darkness of "Master of the Abyss," the realism of "Survival And Looks" and "Do It." The inevitability that sacrifice is liberating is indeed true. In "Let's Be Irrational," the author laments about the perils of honesty. But if honesty is hated, so does lying but his disdain of honesty's repercussions is at least, genuine. Everybody feels it especially if you're living in this 21st Century. "Drive Away Fast" is very common theme popularized by Jack Kerouac. These things I mentioned are gems with sure value.

The best kind of poetry is less like something that is operated and dissected inside the "writing lab" of an English Lit Major. Real poetry is more on something that is being experienced by a common person, crossing cultures and boundaries. This one is a good experience. By reading the short passages, you can conjure a world of your own, a story not far from what the author is trying to say no matter what the literary technique is being used.

We have been told many times that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. As a piece of expression and a work of art, that remains the magic of poetry. The author may write a short collection of verses, but a world of meaning can be created depending on the one who reads it. If that created world has no meaning, the author simply failed. This one though, is the author's success representative of 21st Century poetry. But it's just my opinion.

"Well, hello Mr Fancypants..."

Genre: Poetry
Rating: Three and a half sharks among whales

For more of the author's works, check here: http://agostinoscafidi.bigcartel.com/

GREEMS by Marcus Adoro

A BOOK REVIEW IN VERSES

©NUS

Is this poetry,

Or is this a prose?

Or perhaps

Just a plain

Lyrical rubbish

Of a song?

Never expected much

Never expected better,

'Coz Marcus' strength

Remains
Not in wordplays,

But in making
his guitar wail.

Those
Repetitious lines

Are annoying;

But books published

without ISBN

Would still look pretty

On my shelf

Like a novelty.

I do agree with Osho

That "seriousness

Is a sickness."

So show
A nasty smile

And crack
a stupid joke;

Collect the dreams

And compile them

As a book.

If it becomes

A collector's item

Or a useless

Bounded paper,

Only time

And termites

Can exactly tell.

Genre: Poetry
Rating: 3 servings of pineapple pancakes

Selected Poems by William Blake

The beauty of the written word is never complete without realizing the strength of its equivalent spoken word. That is poetry in its basic form.

At a young age, William Blake saw angels in a tree sometime between 1765-67. This experience prompted him to study drawing, engraving, and lastly, painting--probably to record visions not generally seen by common people in his time. In his later years he suffered poverty and neglect but his rare talent in literature, illustration, and his visions earned him a unique position in British history.  Spiritual, mystic, or just a plain dreamer, one thing is certain and it's about his highly visual and symbolic literary skills reflected in his works.

Take these two stanzas from the introduction of Songs of Experience (the part where he introduces himself as a poet):

Hear the  voice of the Bard!
Who Present, Past, & Future sees, 
Whose ears have heard
The Holy Word
That walk'd among the ancient trees,

Calling the lapsed Soul,
And weeping  in the evening dew,
That might controll
The starry pole
And fallen, fallen light renew!

I observe some apparent misspellings but they are printed in this book exactly the way they are in the original engravings and notes by the author. Those words have the traces of being  archaic, progenitors of the present-day words easy to spot since they all sound common (shew-show, eccho-echo, extacy-ecstacy, akeing-aching, embrio-embryo, desart-desert, etc.). This is my reason for the emphasis of the spoken word here. Try reciting a passage or two, and you will like how they sound.

This is my favorite excerpt from There is No Natural Religion:

Application: He who sees the Infinite in all things
sees God. He who sees the Ratio only sees himself only.
Therefore: God becomes as we are, that we may be as he is.

image©Thomas Phillips

Nature is imagination itself--he declares in his letter to Dr Tusler. I could not agree more. Because as a poet if you cannot project to the audience the picture in your mind and its symbols, then you already failed as a communicator. The message is no longer the same and the bridge is lost between the creator and his creation.

Overall, this is a neat collection of selected poems by William Blake published by Phoenix Poetry. The chronology of Blake's life in parallel to historical world events in the final pages is a big bonus. This one is highly recommended as an introductory William Blake read.  


Genre: Poetry
Rating: 4 woodcuts out of 5