A Voice for Independent Authors

“You can kill a book quicker by your silence than by a bad review.”
― E.A. Bucchianeri

REVIEWING TODAY: BROKEN MUSIC BY KIT STOKES

Broken Music, a collection of incomparable poetry by Kit Stokes, should, without putting too professional a point on it, blow your bloody socks off. Upon finishing the first three poems alone (and ignoring the brief but final devolution into clever rhymes,) one realizes he is standing barefoot in the concert hall, or formally attired in the local shelter. Rawness, depth, intelligence, and utter power fuel these magnificent if concise explorations of what it means to live without filters; to see without distortion. That is not to imply the poems are simple in their rawness of observance. Quite the contrary, they are as complex as the deepest philosophical thoughts bequeathed by history, with allusions and associations meant for the most educated mind. As such, they come without apology for those who like their poetry sweet and easy. If you can fully understand any poem the first time ‘round, it likely is not worth the effort. With Broken Music, as with listening to the classics in the hall, one calls out Encore! and desires only to be reading once again.

Poetry is not a writing skill attempted by the timid. Garbage yards aplenty are filled with the empty dross from those who claim the title: Poet. Mr. Stokes’ work deserves a palace and a crowd, but apparently is discovered only by solitary miners seeking perhaps mythical, hidden treasures. Broken Music is not a literary work to be analyzed in the format of a typical review. Any bloodless critique would miss the depth and power held by these gems embedded within poetical format. Only proper that Mr. Stokes, a master poet, should provide the words to properly describe the theme and beauty of Broken Music. From the poem, Out of Nothing a Something, comes: “The music that haunts all broken things.” I could not describe his work any better.