Review of Instant Poetry (Just Add Words!), by Larry Berger

I was intrigued when I received a copy of this poetry chapbook for assessment. It is not the common poetry book. The author, 'Laughing' Larry Berger, improvised these poems onstage in front of an interactive audience in a variety of coffee homes in Los Angeles in 1996.

It is not effortless to create poetry, considerably less write it in front of a crowd, which is why I was content to learn Berger's wit, imagination, and flair for language. The verses, some as brief as a couple of lines and some lengthy sufficient for two pages, discover a variety of subjects and themes, from entertaining and light to significant and transcendent.

A very good instance of the author's lighter poems is "Bubble Gum." The poem catches a moment, 1 snapshot of pure joy. A recurring theme in this perform is the thought that contemporary men are trapped, caged, slaves and prisoners of their personal vehicles and apartments. One of the poems which exemplifies these tips is "Leprosy."

In other poems, such as "4 Thousand Years Ago (The Crack Baby's Prayer)," the author requires a philosophical appear at life, presenting the reader with a grim image of society, injustice, and the violence inflicted by humans all through history. Berger utilizes the symbolic metaphor of rivers red with blood-this metaphor, by the way, is also recurrent in some of his other poems.

Some of my favourite poems in this book are the ones exactly where Berger captures one single moment of happiness in a planet exactly where disaster looms in just about every corner. For instance, in "Green Tea Ice Cream," which is about the prediction that the planet will end in 2012, Berger ends the verse with the narrator getting delighted for the reason that he's basically enjoying scrumptious green tea ice cream.

There are a different memorable lines in this collection. I am not confident if Berger meant to leave his most effective poem for final, but "Cold KFC in N.Y.C." was unquestionably the most effective for me. The poem, which reads like a story, is about a man who has just been mugged in Grand Central. Obtaining just missed death, he goes back to his crummy, cold flat and collapses from terror and exhaustion. Later he wakes up hungry and the only issue left in his fridge is some cold KFC leftovers. Berger ends the poem-and the book-with:

And people
I've got to inform you!
ROAD KILL Under no circumstances TASTED SO Very good!

Immediate Poetry (Just Add Words!) is a collection of forty-eight poems. I was shocked at the author's creativity, great humor, and, at instances, depth about the human situation. I never read poetry normally but I located Immediate Poetry engaging and exciting. If you enjoy poetry and would like to try a thing a variety of, I propose you grab a copy of this book.

Mayra Calvani writes fiction and nonfiction for young children and adults. Her nonfiction perform, The Slippery Art of Book Reviewing was a ForeWord Finest Book of the Year Award winner. She's had over 300 stories, articles, interviews and testimonials published. Stop by her web-site at http://www.MayraCalvani.com.