Verb Sap

by Magus Magnus, Narrow House (Editor)

Poetry. "Word to the read this love letter to what language can do for you. M. Magnus' VERB SAP taps the very blood of language--the textures here get at the many-fingered roots, the 'crossweave fabric' of rhizomatic namings that thrust ever outward, always 'by way of a word' here, the 'Elfic D'oracle' signifies how a 'single word can change your life'"--Lee Ann Brown.

69 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2008

About the author

MMm... Utterance
online radio blog (live and archived readings) at

www.blogtalkradio.com/contrailflyer

Reviews

[Jason Pettus]

Magus was kind enough to send me a copy of this book for possible review at my arts organization, not knowing that I actually don't accept books of poetry for review there; and that was completely my fault, for not having a mention of it at the CCLaP website, and I feel bad that Magus went to all the trouble of sending me a copy, so at least wanted to get a few thoughts up here at my GoodReads account, to let people know that I actually did read and really enjoy it, in my personal life as just another poetry lover out there. Because I do love reading poetry books, make no mistake, just that I never know what to analytically say about them, which is why I don't accept such volumes for review; and so is the case with "Verb Sap" as well, which I spent three very enjoyable evenings consuming, about a dozen pieces a night in bed in that lucid period right before going to sleep, but couldn't tell you from a critical standpoint why I enjoyed them as literary constructs. And I guess that's what makes them so appropriate to read in that sleepy period right before entering a dream-state, because many of these dense, abstract pieces straddle that line already; this is much more TS Eliot than Maya Angelou, a rich literary dessert to be eaten only a little at a time, or else (to take the metaphor to its disgusting extremes) run the risk of vomiting alliterations all over your lap. Like many people, this is how I mostly enjoy poetry too, as a little punctuation to my life that I don't think too terribly much about, a perfect companion to periods of my day when my mind is flowing in odd and random directions anyway, for example in that half-hour right before bed each night. That's how I myself enjoyed "Verb Sap," and that's the way I'd encourage others to approach it as well.

[Bernadette]

If Magus Magnus’ poetry collection, Verb Sap, was a circus, the poems under the Big Top would be the acrobats and clowns, dizzily soaring and tumbling, providing literary arabesques and humor to the delight of their audience.

Magnus’ poems are filled with word play, rife with puns and twists, with titles like “Lust We Be Misunderstood” and “Birdman in a No-Fly Zone”. You won’t find much in the way of straightforward narrative, but in their roundabout way, the poems pull together glimpses of the poet who holds the pen.

Read more at http://rantsravesreviews.homestead.co...