Joey Madia, New Mystics Reviews

(Highest Hurdle Press, 2007, $15.00) Highest Hurdle Press’s latest collection of poetry, Letterhead Volume #1, is a collection of poetry in three sections—the first is a selection of nationally known small and independent press poets, including Mark Sonnenfeld and Joe Verrilli; the next section is an exchange of letters and poems between co-editor Robert Pomerhn and Roarshock editor Harvey Goldner (to whom the volume is dedicated); the third section includes selections by, as the introduction states, “Buffalo [NY] poets and the far-flung members of the Buffalo diaspora.” Over the course of the three sections, which together present about 75 pieces from 33 poets, we get a little bit of everything (I once again quote the introduction): “confessional poetry, spoken word/slam poetry, vispo, experimental verse, mail art, correspondence, found poetry, political poetry, and collage.” This seems like a great expanse of styles to contain in one collection, but Highest Hurdle Press seems able to...

The Underside of Flight is a stark, poetic chronicle of one artist’s journey into the darkness brought on by losing his job after 10 years and facing the uncertainties that poured forth from such a deep, piercing wound. It is a collection of 120+ pieces categorized as Poems, the writer’s own Quotes (e.g., “Life is a granting of living; when is the last time you lived?”), and Mind-Blasts (e.g., “Some of my favorite madmen were scholars of their craft”). The collection opens with a page full of dedications to family and friends—a signal that although the word-shaman has gone into the wilderness, alone, to seek the darkest of caves and deepest of rivers, he has not forsaken his vital connection to his Tribe. These works are some of the most raw, honest, and at times brutal that I have read in quite some time. The artist wrote with his mental blood as he bled and was not so presumptuous or cowardly to feel the need to go back and cover his tracks, soften his truths, or make any apologies i...