Saturday, August 24, 2013

The Good Bartender and Other Concoctions.

Poet Martin Hicks writes about his new book, The Good Bartender and Other Concoctions.
 
Poetry can be addictive. As hundred-proof hard evidence read this book about an abstaining but conscientious bartender who obligingly attends to the needs of his regular clientele of boozers,  abusers, and losers while wiping away any evidence of impropriety. He has a solution for everything!If insufficient to induce sober thought theres other lucid accounts of lurid types with all sorts of dependencies.

     To give you a little Taste, somebody is seeking the super glue of true Love for a bonding ceremony. Compounding this, a solvent abuser-or huffier-solves problems by going off in a huff. Add an anti-social drinker has Life in the bag...of brown paper. Put in more pursuing their personal Passion, literally! Absorb how a nightclub proprietor takes a portion for a ride with a lot of mechanical bull. Supplement this with a hate-mongering skinhead stirring outrage in disorder to savour negative attention. Swallow how for some the golden liqueur of choice is basking in public attention. Continue by tossing in a few heated religious protagonists climaxing proagonists. Include also a stuffy scarecrow hanging out with hang-ups, strictly for the birds. To top it all off insert a happy hobo intoxicated by the great outdoors. Besides one for the road, study human chemistry at work as characters release bottled-up emotions: a pliant pole dancer gives things a whirl, a lady bodybuilder gets pumped, a pasty pastry exhibits behaviour beyond the pale, and a spaghetti vender lets off steam as he dishes out the spicy details. In one instance a metaphoric pile driver drives home the point!

     But most gratifying in this well-mixed miscellany is how Poetry itself is actually the mysterious main ingredient-the potent catalyst-making inert Substance actively work. Heavily laced with Rhyme throughout, chain reactions compound the overall effect as Content is distilled into pure-or impure-essence. Precisely Measured it's never watered down nor formulaic. Relax laid back and imbibe each poem slowly or binge on the entire concocted collection at one sitting. Everything is sweet! There's plenty of cool aid slipped in to conceal the cyanide. Indulge! Consume! Sate! Enjoy what's in store on diverse themes sure to please even the most finicky of palates!

-mh

He luxuriates in language.-The Lyric Magazine

 212 pages, illustrated; $20. Available in town at the Book Shelf on May Street days and the Apollo after 8:30pm.

 

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