Poetry

Poetry Review: “Defining Thoughts Poetry” by Victoria Halton

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Rating: 2 stars

Headline: Poor formatting and overuse of purple prose prevent “Defining Thoughts Poetry” from being the collection it could be

Review:

Defining Thoughts Poetry is the new poetry publication by Victoria Halton. A cross between poetry and storytelling, this eighty-eight page collection aims to, as Halton presents it, transport readers to a world “where extortionary becomes reality”. The book also includes photographic shots, which add flavour and drama towards the written content.

Within this collection, most of Halton’s poems follow a conventional layout of non-rhyming three and four line stanzas and, while there is nothing explicitly linking the poems, patterns soon emerge in Halton’s enchanting descriptions of scenes and locations. The strong writing calibre serves as a strong reminder that this is not Halton’s first entry into the poetry market. The poem “Remember the Scent” was a personal favourite, in its depiction of both a relatable experience, cleverly demonstrating the intertwined link between smell and memory.

The book’s main challenges come, in many ways, within its strengths. While it is an impressive talent, Halton’s over use of purple prose damages the reading experience, leaving readers tangled in excessive flowery and ornate language that loses meaning. It makes Defining Thoughts Poetry confusing, if not impenetrable, at points.

There is also the major issue of book’s formatting. Somewhere along the line Halton and/or her team decided to put the copy of this book onto a bronze ripple effect background. Unfortunately doing this makes the book incredibly hard to read, as the varying backing colours fight against the copy overlayed on top. When the copy already demands a good deal of thought and consideration, the background serves as an additional, and unneeded, distraction. The book should have been published on a standardised white background.

Reading Defining Thoughts Poetry inspires a mixture of conflicting thoughts and feelings. While on the surface this is a book that had every potential to succeed, its failings are difficult to overlook. If Halton reigned in her use of purple prose, this could have had the bones of an exceptional read. The truth is, sometimes you just want a spade to be called a spade.

AEB Reviews

Links:

Reedsy Discovery Review: AEB Reviews – “Defining Thoughts Poetry” by Victoria Halton

Purchase Link: “Defining Thoughts Poetry” by Victoria Halton (Amazon)

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Poetry Review: “Cairo” by Kolton Lane

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Rating: A well-written poetry collection set across the shores of America and Egypt

Headline: 4 stars

Review:

Cairo is the new poetry collection from the author Kolton Lane. Despite the title, Cairo splits itself into two distinct geographical regions, the first half focusing itself on America and the second on Egypt. There is also a final third section which is comprised of a short story titled “Inseparable Threads”, which is set in Kansas, America.

Poems in this book follow what many would consider to be a traditionalist, conventional style of poetry, with block stanzas and rhyming couples used frequently to great effect. There is a sense of clam and ease while reading the poems, that nothing within the reader’s eye needs to be rushed. Personal favourites include the poems “Waters of the Nile” and “Dust Storms” which romanticises the arterial river which dominates the very fabric of what Egypt is and was.

The inclusion of the short story “Inseparable Threads” feels a bit out of kilter with the rest of the book. While like the rest of the book, the words are well written, by the author’s own admission, it is not a integral part of the collection. In the foreword preceding the story, Lane states, “who knows, maybe the next book may be a collection of short stories.” It is an element that probably should have been debuted elsewhere. The title of this book, Cairo, might also have benefitted from being more flattering to the boarder locations referenced, seeing as the first half the book is set in America and the second half does not limit itself to the city boarders of the Egyptian capital.

When it comes to poetry, the best collections are the ones with either a sense of urgency or a sense of place. With Cairo, Lane has successfully managed to target the latter camp to great effect. With poems that are well put together with nice deployment of visual language, reading this book will make you long for sunny days on distant shores.

AEB Reviews

Links:

Reedsy Discovery Review: AEB Reviews -“Cairo” by Kolton Lane

Purchase Link: “Cairo” by Kolton Lane (Amazon)

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Poetry Review: “Let’s meet through the four rhyming lines” by Aazmao Arn

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Rating: 3 stars

Headline: Aazmao Arn’s poetry style of four-line rhyming stanzas is homely but just a little bit repetitive

Review:

Aazmao Arn’s poetry release, Let’s meet through the four rhyming lines, speaks to some of the core elements of what it means to be human. Born and raised in the Middle Eastern country of Qatar, Arn’s collection of poems and personal reflections were inspired by her personal drive to give readers a deeper meaning to their feelings and thoughts. Within this humble collection of thirteen poems there is a range of events and worldly interactions, from those that dive down a microscopic lens, considering the ripple effect of perception and appearance, to poems that draw inspiration from nature and how it interacts with humanity. Preceding each poem is a motivational or thought-provoking statement (for example, “Patience”, which reads, “Once you conquer patience, life can get easier.”)

There are some likeable aspects of this collection. By being written consistently in a four line stanza format with rhyming couplets, there comes a methodical and reassuring beat to each page while reading through this short book. It makes for a somewhat comforting and homely style that perfectly matches the book’s title. By constructing her poetry in this manner, Arn’s has made her poetry anything but a drag.

That said, writing in this manner does result in the poetry feeling somewhat repetitive and lacking in imagination. There are occasions where the rhymes feel a bit forced and the stanzas drawn out or abruptly cut off to make them fit into the same cookie-cutter format as all the poems that come before and after. The one sentence statements that fill every other page is also something that, personally, I feel adds little and probably would have been better used to showcase more of Arn’s poetry.

What I would love to see more of in Arn’s creative talents is a broadened use of different poetic styles and types; more variation on the poetic structure and maybe some experimentation beyond the traditional confines of a four line stanza.

AEB Reviews

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Reedsy Discovery Review: AEB Reviews – “Let’s meet through the four rhyming lines” by Aazmao Arn

Purchase Link: “Let’s meet through the four rhyming lines” by Aazmao Arn (Amazon)

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Poetry Review: “How to Monetize Despair” by Lisa Mottolo

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Rating: 5 stars

Headline: How to Monetize Despair: I don’t know how Mottolo does it, she just does.

Review:

Before I have even turned the opening page of How to Monetize Despair I somewhat know this is going to have me hooked. With an intriguing choice of title and dramatic cover imagery, Lisa Mottolo’s poetry collection is one which marks itself as bold and unapologetic from the get go. Those of a sensitive disposition should step aside now.

In just under a hundred pages, this collection provides readers with an assortment of stanza-led poetry and monologue segments, divided into three segments but overall covering the key milestones of grief, from the initial shock trauma to forming new pathways in life. In one poem titled “We Only Speak Well of the Dead”, Mottolo inserts feelings love and compassion expressed in the wording against a title backdrop of dry humour (in this case, the observation that so often death blesses one’s legacy with a celebrated status which the deceased are unable to appreciate). It is a slightly twisted view of the world, but one which feels clever and, like much of Mottolo’s poetry, one you need to read for yourself to truly appreciate.

The monologue excepts of writing are monolithic, taking up to a page with the author intentionally leaving the copy as one lump of solid text. It forces the reader to tackle the content in one go, or else face losing their place in the text altogether, however once you adopt the differing approach to reading you are greatly rewarded with beautiful imagery and ideas on the meaning of life that for better or worse will haunt you long after you have finished reading.

How to Monetize Despair makes for a strangely captivating read. It is hard to put into words how Mottolo does it, she just does. In truth the only way to fully understand this poetry collection is to read it for yourself, do that and then we can talk.

AEB Reviews

Links:

Reedsy Discovery Review: AEB Reviews – “How to Monetize Despair” by Lisa Mottolo

Purchase Link: “How to Monetize Despair” by Lisa Mottolo (Amazon)

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Poetry Review: “Bubblegum heart & other elastic things” by Quazaye Konkel

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Rating: 5 stars

Headline: Whether poetry is based on true events or the work of utter fiction is irrelevant when it’s as captivating as this

Review:

Penned by the biracial, bipolar and bisexual poet Quazaye Konkel, Bubblegum heart & other elastic things is a collection that take readers on a story of love won and lost. Beginning with the initial feelings of passion and lust that come with any fledging relationship, Konkel moves through the lines of the opening poem “venus de milwaukee” with ease. These joyful moments are shown in subsequent poems, perhaps peaking with “bubblegum heart”, a midpoint piece where the narrator declares their love for an unnamed individual. By the time readers reach “jinx” there is already a sense that something is going wrong, that the relationship is unravelling and spiralling out of control.

“I didn’t mean to jinx it // when I asked if you were // okay… // I only meant // to kiss it // better”

But even in the lows there is much to be grateful for. In “seasons of loving”, readers are presented with an individual reflecting on the positives of a failed relationship as much as the negatives that ultimately led to its deterioration. It is beautifully written and fitting closing poem for this charming collection.

There is a lot to like with Konkel’s collection, particularly in the strength of the narrator’s voice which follows through all of the poems. The reader is transported on a journey and in doing so builds a strong relationship with the narrator, almost as much as the narrator does with its unnamed love interest. The pacing is good and the varied use of poetic forms keeps the mood and tempo engaging.

It is not often a collection of poetry focuses on one narrative voice working through a linear journey but Bubblegum heart & other elastic things succeeds in captivating readers in a story of joy and struggle. Whether poetry is based on true events or is the work of utter fiction is irrelevant when it is as captivating as this.

AEB Reviews

Links:

Reedsy Discovery Review: AEB Reviews – “Bubblegum heart & other elastic things” by Quazaye Konkel

Purchase Link: “Bubblegum heart & other elastic things” by Quazaye Konkel (Amazon)

Author Website: Quazi Writes – thoughts. feelings. poetry.

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Poetry Review: “Dancing Words” by Jocelyne Smallian-Khan

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Rating: 3 stars

Headline: A likeable and pleasant read, with the author’s creativity providing energy and bounce on every page

Review:

Dancing Words is a collection by the poet Jocelyne Smallian-Khan. Smallian-Khan’s thirty one poems are themed around dance and movement, many of which being dedicated to individuals close to the author. Lengths and styles of the poems vary, including haikus, one stanza statements and poems spanning multiple pages.

This is a nice little collection of poems and I am quite sure any reader will find a favourite in amongst the collection. Two standout favourites for me are the short a sweet three liner “Temple Dancer” which considers the movement portrayed in ancient art and “Tannoura, Tannoura, Tannoura”. The latter rates highly for its quirkiness and the author’s decision to twist the words into a circle shape which adds unexpected energy and bounce to the content.

Where I perhaps would have liked more in Smallian-Khan’s work is in her use of description and imagery, which felt frustratingly lacking. In most cases the poems are too short to be given the room to breathe and expand in the reader’s imagination. They are over too soon. The use of international dialect also creates confusion, it makes some of the poems a harder experience to read. It is hard to truly become immersed in poetry if you cannot understand what is being conveyed. That said, I am the first to accept that as a native English speaker with poor grasp on global language this could be a case of reader error.

To the right readership, the type who revel in short and snappy poetry, there is a lot to take away in Dancing Words. Those in search of beefy sagas, poems with ample detail and strong visuals may need to look further afield. It makes for a likeable and pleasant read, just not something that can be so readily debated over in poetry groups.

AEB Reviews

Links:

Reedsy Discovery Review: AEB Reviews – “Dancing Words: A Poetry Collection” by Jocelyne Smallian-Khan

Purchase Link: “Dancing Words: A Poetry Collection” by Jocelyne Smallian-Khan (Amazon)

Author Website: https://jjsk.ca/

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Come Again?

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Doing a bit of industry research one evening I come across this book of poetry, “Dung Beatles Navigate by Starlight”.

I know I can give as good as it gets on the waffle game (and I’m not talking about sweet treats) but this is next level:

The book’s description reads:

“These poems explore the boundary between science and poetry, and juxtapose the lexicon of organic chemistry, in particular, with a botanical discourse which is more conventional in poetry, but which the scientific treatment defamiliarises. Far from being abstruse and heavy, the treatment here lightens the subject with an imaginative playfulness, as in ‘The First Green Human: The Observer Interviews Clorinda’, where Marvell’s pastoral character is turned, through a journalistic register, into a personification of current ecological concerns.“

My reaction?

I’m done. No way can I compete with that level of blurb-ery (#ShouldBeAWord) talent (and I’m not entirely kidding).

In other news, Mumma B says she’s reassured in knowing that her daughter isn’t the only one who can spout waffle. Whoop.

(Link: https://cinnamonpress.com/store/dung-beetles-navigate-by-starlight/)

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