HS Poetry
Drake, Robert M. A Brilliant Madness (2015). Drake’s collection of poetry spans from 2004 to 2015. This collection has the overarching theme of losing oneself to the 21st Century. His poems are dark and cynical. With titles such as, “The Street is Empty,” “No Time to Breathe,” “The Middle of Nowhere,” and so on. “The Hunger that Never Ends” is a poem that stood out. It is about how everyone always strives for more. More money, more friends, more power, more love, more of everything. We are never satisfied and that will eventually lead to the destruction of self and of relationships. “More You Please” is another poem that stood out. Drake writes about the need for more individuals and less of the masses, one particular line stands out: “The world needs more of you and less of them.” This gives hope to anyone who feels different. Being different makes us all beautiful and we need to appreciate these difference now more than ever. Drake has an interesting take on what it is like to be alive in times of technology and such harsh social standards. It is refreshing. However, some of his poems seemed repetitive and monotonous- some poems seemed to repeat the same message (love). Varied poems would have had more impact. His book also contains images that are all black and white. They are from Shutterstock Inc. and lend to the appeal for teenaged readers. Some images cover the entire page and others are cropped and copy and pasted multiple times. This lends to his style of disarray coupled with the title of “Brilliant Madness”-it's a cynic's fast read! Ages 16 and up for content, language, and themes.