Bermuda Ferris Wheel

by Bryce Berkowitz

Berkowitz’s artful poems are stunningly moving. Although there are moments of humor and complexity of tone, the book is not irony-stuffed but decidedly romantic, reminding us of Joe Bolton’s work. Berkowitz’s awareness of nature throughout Bermuda Ferris Wheel comes from a super-focused attention to detail and texture, indicating a self-consciousness married to an awareness of everything that is other. The author risks sentimentality in some of the “family” poems but is saved by the boldness of his emotional engagement with real people and real places. Any self-absorption that might overwhelm the poems is tempered by the artfulness of the descriptive writing, the poet’s strong sense of place, the various manifold localities that serve as the poet’s own flawed Eden, redemptive and indicative of failure in equal parts. It’s a kind of higher power, this presence that gives life to cities and landscapes and wraps the autobiographical elements of these poems in the glow of significance.

Genres: Poetry

80 pages, Paperback

Published October 6, 2022

Reviews

[Another Bookworm · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a debut: packed with heart. As a woman, I have to say it's masculine yet warm and beautiful and exactly the kind of poems that I want to read from a contemporary male poet. The type of poems that navigate through narrative by pivoting the lens of author's past to associative moments, to memory, while leaping into the present in lyric, sometimes toggling the sonics to an almost hip hop pitch, almost slam, but not slam, just at the precipice, so it stays on a border, polished to the page, as if the author is speaking directly to you in a hushed room. A very self-aware and mature first book of poems. I don't know the author but I assume he's had some years put into the craft of these long before this book came out. A very underrated book, I'd say. This one came to me from a student. And I'll continue returning to it regularly, as I have for several years now, teaching it in my MFA workshops and summer writing workshop programs. It's one that always goes over well for 20-sometimes all the way up to retirees--I'm in a low-res program. Sometimes, it's tough to find a balance in those rooms. What a diamond to find. I started following him on social media and the new poems are radiant. I look forward to another book of poems from this author. Who writes about skateboarding and graffiti culture and trailer parks and oddball characters with such dimension? If you know others, tell me, please. It's not my world, but I do enjoy looking through the window.

[Erin B · Rating 5 out of 5]

I saw his poem, "Thank You, Forgiveness, shared on IG's @poetryisnotaluxury and fell in love with his work! Just a stunning writer. So many heartbreaking and beautiful poems in this one. I can't even pick a favorite.