John Amen

The New Arcana by John Amen and Daniel Y. Harris is highly experimental and mixes poetry with photos and art, and much more. It is broken down into five sections, preceded by a list of dramatic personas in a couple of instances, which in fact set the stage for what comes next. While experimental in form, there are traditional elements as well, including references to Greek myths and the journey of Odysseus. Through this experimentation, readers must pay closer attention to the words, phrases, fonts, and other elements in the collection to discern meaning or the story. This is a thinking reader’s book, but it’s also a book of pure lunacy and fun as the personas take over and yell at one another in a banter that just generates smirks and laughs.

Read the full review: http://savvyverseandwit.com/2012/12/the-new-arcana-by-john-amen-and-daniel-y-har...… (mehr)

In one sentence, "He has some of it." It meaning the stuff which makes poets great. There are interesting lines here and there, and a world-weary sense of disappearing, of vanishing, but in all his grasping, Amen provides nothing emotionally crushing nor draws any real conclusions. Furthermore, his tension with divinity leads him down odd paths, like proclaiming that humanity is the formed from the feces of a god. Nice, John, but I'll pass on deconstructing that. And politically speaking, of course, he's an idiot leftist.

So while there are occasional hooks of interest, cohesion there isn't, and why wade through yet another leftist toilet bowl when you there are plenty of other babies without the nasty bath water?… (mehr)

At the Threshold of Alchemy by John Amen conjures profound statements about the human condition often from unusual or incongruous elements in nature, pop culture, and religion. Many of these poems comment on the darker side of humanity, and the narrator tends to seek out destruction and mischief. There are some longer poems in the collection that could become tedious for certain readers, but taken in slowly -- one section at a time -- readers can delve deeper into the verse.

". . . Mary plants clematis and bougainvillea.
I'm writing ballads on a '71 Gibson. We're purchasing
mulch, two tons of soil. We're collecting ripe moments," (Portraits of Mary, Page 43)

Vivid images and situations permeate these pages, and Amen is a poet prepared to comment on the taboo or the elephant in the room. Several poems titled "missive" address unknown recipients and offer harsh criticisms in which the sarcastic undertones is palpable.

"Had I known you were more concerned with baubles
than the outcomes of the election, I'd have planned
to craft a wreath for the occasion. Bless tabloids
and puppet governments, I take my salvation as
I can get it." (Missive #12, Page 68)

Musical elements also weave their way into the poems, much like they did in Amen's More of Me Disappears. Entwined with these musical lines, readers will note an atmosphere of self-deprecation created by the narrator's repentance or observations.

"Forgive me for eating this bountiful meal.
Forgive me for sleeping beneath this roof.
Forgive me for making love to my wife.
Forgive me for everything I fail to see and do
and avenge. Forgive me for this insular life." (Rampage, Page 24)

At the Threshold of Alchemy by John Amen is a collection that readers will need to let simmer, breathing in each line like an exotic incense. Readers can read each poem in this collection more than once and still uncover new layers of meaning. From short poems to long poems, this collection has a variety to please a multitude of readers.… (mehr)

John Amen's More of Me Disappears is broken down into three separate sections and each poem in each section is accessible, vivid, and explosive. In a number of poems, Amen's musical and song writing talents permeate the lines. However, these are more than rhythmic dances, his work gradually moves toward a vanishing point.

From Verboten (Page 17)

"They are drinking wine and speaking
of French-U.S. relations when the long
sleeve on her arm falls down. Before
she can clutch it, I see the faded blue
tattoo on her flesh. "What are those
numbers?" I ask. A silence explodes
through the room like spores."

Each poem in this collection tells a story, reflects on a bright memory, and picks these events apart to reveal the truth beneath. There are times in this volume when the narrator is sure of his path and at other times ideas run contrary to one another. Some of my favorite lines will leave readers squirming or gritting their teeth.

From Walking Unsure of Myself (Page 65)

"The fortune teller is battling a migraine.
Wind has swallowed my itinerary.

A man in blue goggles is on his knees outside the bank.
The rape victim is scrubbing herself with a steel brush."

Readers will enjoy the music of these poems and how these poems pop off the pages, with an in your face quality. Subtlety is not a prevalent style in Amen's work, but readers will appreciate his frankness. From poems where the narrator takes an active role to poems to observances from a distance, Amen draws the reader in with immediate and concrete details. More of Me Disappears is one of the best collections I've read in 2009.… (mehr)