Butterflies Lost Within The Crooked Moonlight by Matt Nagin
4 Stars
There is a confidence that shines from the poet that is evident from the beginning of this collection.
Such bravado needs to be judged on the poems on display and thankfully, for the most part, it works well. There is a strong focus on America and some of the issues that worry at this present time. There are poems that take on the aspect of being a social commentary.
The poet uses a non-rhyming free verse style and rarely differs from that format to maintain
consistency. There is a conversational feel to the poems. This has the effect of the poet speaking
directly to the reader. Whether you agree or not his opinion or reflections will be on display in the
poems.
The pacing of the collection is well thought out with a mixture of angrier social commentary mixed
with abstract subjects. The poet changes styles and pacing. There is a particular pattern to poetry
about women and sex/love that tend to have a tighter rhyme style and move at a quicker pace.
A lot of poetry collections discuss the hardship of being a poet and the different structures it can be
tide with, which is ironic in this case due to the free verse format.
The confident style is welcome and though some poems can seem preachy at times the beauty of
poetry is in allowing that expression. So if the above is appealing to what you look for in a poetry
collection you will not be disappointed.
An overall good collection that achieves what the poet is looking to do, which hopefully matches the reader’s expectations.
Louis Cecile's Poetry 