Review of Hard Rain & Thunderstorms for Poetic Monthly Magazine
Hard Rain and Thunderstorms, selected poems by Jamie Collins
Hard rain and Thunderstorms opens with a tough ballad, well-constructed with interesting rhymes and repetitions, written with the awkward rhythms of life's illusion and disillusionment. Close on its heels comes the intense I know what it's like, revealing the contrast between rejection and love. The reader questions at once, will this love last, or will it just be another thing known and lost. Mountaintop experiences are shared with falling rain, and sleep with the permanence of death, while sometimes complex rhythms and fairly simple rhymes take readers on a journey of hope ever-threatened, ever-restored. The bleak one of the nights I killed myself contrasts with Tomorrow's "If tomorrow I could see things / that today did not allow / then tomorrow could only / be a better day."
The poems read sometimes like autobiography, particularly a"... firstborn / in my father's house." Some soaring phrases hide and some stand out. Of all the poems, my favorites are the short and beautiful fragile, and the nicely phrased Why do you stand by the window?. The one is pared down to just the necessary words, with no embellishment or self-conscious craft, while the other is rhythmic, blending question with fine symbolism. Alone in love gives a thought-provoking image of memory, while perfection abandoned love evokes a fine fractured image with its words. Landscape is pleasingly sensuous, hell's waiting room disturbingly evocative, and epiphany includes some very fine lines.
Ideas repeat and some of the poems, or the collection, might be more tightly edited for craft and flow, but Hard Rain and Thunderstorms is certainly an interesting read.
Title: Hard Rain and Thunderstorms
Author: Jamie Collins
Rating: 3
Reviewed for Poetic Monthly by Sheila Deeth
Hard rain and Thunderstorms opens with a tough ballad, well-constructed with interesting rhymes and repetitions, written with the awkward rhythms of life's illusion and disillusionment. Close on its heels comes the intense I know what it's like, revealing the contrast between rejection and love. The reader questions at once, will this love last, or will it just be another thing known and lost. Mountaintop experiences are shared with falling rain, and sleep with the permanence of death, while sometimes complex rhythms and fairly simple rhymes take readers on a journey of hope ever-threatened, ever-restored. The bleak one of the nights I killed myself contrasts with Tomorrow's "If tomorrow I could see things / that today did not allow / then tomorrow could only / be a better day."
The poems read sometimes like autobiography, particularly a"... firstborn / in my father's house." Some soaring phrases hide and some stand out. Of all the poems, my favorites are the short and beautiful fragile, and the nicely phrased Why do you stand by the window?. The one is pared down to just the necessary words, with no embellishment or self-conscious craft, while the other is rhythmic, blending question with fine symbolism. Alone in love gives a thought-provoking image of memory, while perfection abandoned love evokes a fine fractured image with its words. Landscape is pleasingly sensuous, hell's waiting room disturbingly evocative, and epiphany includes some very fine lines.
Ideas repeat and some of the poems, or the collection, might be more tightly edited for craft and flow, but Hard Rain and Thunderstorms is certainly an interesting read.
Title: Hard Rain and Thunderstorms
Author: Jamie Collins
Rating: 3
Reviewed for Poetic Monthly by Sheila Deeth
Review of Hard Rain & Thunderstorms by Andrew Buckner
Hard Rain and Thunderstorms: Collected Poems
By Jamie Collins
Reviewed By: Andrew Buckner
(Author of Song of Survival: Poetry in the Key of Freedom)
***1/2(out of ****)
In Hard Rain and Thunderstorms: Collected Poems, master wordsmith Jamie Collins' seventh and most current volume of original verse, the ever-engaged reader becomes witness to the stalwart strength and phenomenal influence of a passionate soul magnificently addressing the genuine ideal of the innumerable relationships every being carries within us throughout the tribulation laden privations of our entirety in our commonplace existence. Speaking, more often than not, as a singular representative of all like- minded citizens of mankind he eloquently discourses on our dealings. From more direct forms of the sentiment, such as yearned for desire to be romantically entangled with another being on works such as the majestically earnest, gorgeously penned ballads as “My Love†where Collins states this aforementioned admiration through an intricate web of immaculately woven metaphors marred with tender, sympathetic imagery.
Outside of these more commonly associated forms of personal interactions Collins communicates triumphantly about our human affairs with nature as in the ardently resourceful narrative "Bird's Song". The aforementioned piece uncovers Collins weaving a characteristically fashioned opus that brings to mind the contemplations of a love ballad to these wonderful creatures from a human perspective. This present ideal of appreciation and oneness towards our uncorrupted global backdrop is at its most riveting, dazzling and intense in the composition that precedes "Bird's Song" dubbed "Mountain Song". Here Collins masterfully personifies the sweeping melody of the fields and the musical opus concerning all that tenderly surrounds nature's picturesque beauty in a rhythmic, whimsical manner. "As I Stood upon the Mountaintop", one of the single best unions of pen to paper in the tome, carries on this particular line of deliberation luminously as it delicately converses of the sense of magnificent triumph, and undeniable concord with the environmental world, one feels when involved in the action the title bares.
Hard Rain and Thunderstorms is at its most uncompromisingly personal and subjective in compositions such as "Slow Suicide". In this tremendously honest bit Collins furthers the varying theme of modern day mortal relationships by weaving a tremendous ode to both his nicotine addiction and also the brutal drudgery of withdraw. This is done brilliantly and with a clear, intelligent and knowing focus as he sees this aforementioned compulsion through the iris of a more traditional correlation where he knows greatly of the evident danger but still cannot heed his obsessions.
Collins continues to weave his individual torment into a more introspective and pain stricken manner in poetic works such as the abandoned and outcast visions perfectly personified in the staggeringly sorrowful "I Know What it's like" and the darkly alluring "One of the Nights I killed Myself." In these pieces we further glimpse into his haunted and secret agony expertly from a first person view that amplifies both the exemplified misery found within. Those poetic compositions are immaculate in there transcendence of his brimming melancholy and Collins finds the perfect atmospheric note to bring his grief-stricken meditations unto the page.
What lies as the cornerstone of the entire volume appears to be Collins' ever-changing outlook on religion. Often the underlying topic of an omnipotent creator is brought forward in tones occasionally praising, sporadically denouncing yet, the most potent is the mocking and overwhelmingly cynical tone found in "I God Am". This is amongst the most powerful pieces in the entire gathering and his wordplay here is simply searing as he views God as a being looking down gleefully on the destruction and infinite chaos he has brought upon the world.
As is evident from above, Collins utilizes mainly classic subject matter within the work's sixty four pages but flawlessly unveils an aesthetic method to mix it with commonplace attitudes, contemplations and sensibility. He evokes a stylistic banter in this effort that is forthright yet heartfelt, gentle and aggressive, staggeringly complex while comprehensive. To coincide with this, especially the timeless focuses at hand, the melodic lyricism he often displays within the pages of this opus is wonderfully reminiscent of the Victorian era of poetic odes and song. This is quite a tremendous feat and Collins pulls it off effortlessly.
The above mentioned classic style is best utilized, and also most visible, in such heart rendering eulogies as "In Time of Sleeping", where he discourses on our own mortality through the unblinking iris of the deceased. With this he employs the previously stated method of word usage alongside subject matter to bring the composition to powerful, immaculately conceived being. This is done equally as well in "Ode to No One" where he brings to wonderfully embodied life his thoughts of death's ever-watching eye. These respective poetic ballads view Collins returning to the contemplation of demise and its release from the gnawing extremities of painful existence in a mature, clever fashion rarely seen erupting from the pens of modern authors.
Largely because many of the poetic terminologies in this singular assortment are under twenty five lines in duration the overall pace of the volume remains rapid fire yet every bit as graceful and focused as the works' themselves. The swift stepped movement of this collection of rhyme is due primarily to Hard Rain and Thunderstorm's flawlessly conceived layout. Subject matter and form are aligned in such a striking, fully deliberated approach that every continued composition in the volume's duration appears, whether articulated or in a subtle technique, to be continuing on all previously addressed topics. This execution works phenomenally and aids tremendously in making the entire publication an utterly unproblematic read.
Conclusively, Hard Rain and Thunderstorms: Collected Poems exists as an extraordinarily well thought out, complete, well rounded and serenely tasteful effort that exhibits Collins as a voice of experience, wisdom and supreme intellectual capabilities. His undeniable appreciation for modern terminology and ageless expression, as well as unbounded substance and concrete thought, evokes a fresh, unique mode of communication that makes him a commanding wielder of the spoken word. Collins' use of personification, imagery, mood and overall language make him as a truly magnificent writer worthy of great admiration and acclaim as well as this refreshing assembly of verse an absolute must own.
By Jamie Collins
Reviewed By: Andrew Buckner
(Author of Song of Survival: Poetry in the Key of Freedom)
***1/2(out of ****)
In Hard Rain and Thunderstorms: Collected Poems, master wordsmith Jamie Collins' seventh and most current volume of original verse, the ever-engaged reader becomes witness to the stalwart strength and phenomenal influence of a passionate soul magnificently addressing the genuine ideal of the innumerable relationships every being carries within us throughout the tribulation laden privations of our entirety in our commonplace existence. Speaking, more often than not, as a singular representative of all like- minded citizens of mankind he eloquently discourses on our dealings. From more direct forms of the sentiment, such as yearned for desire to be romantically entangled with another being on works such as the majestically earnest, gorgeously penned ballads as “My Love†where Collins states this aforementioned admiration through an intricate web of immaculately woven metaphors marred with tender, sympathetic imagery.
Outside of these more commonly associated forms of personal interactions Collins communicates triumphantly about our human affairs with nature as in the ardently resourceful narrative "Bird's Song". The aforementioned piece uncovers Collins weaving a characteristically fashioned opus that brings to mind the contemplations of a love ballad to these wonderful creatures from a human perspective. This present ideal of appreciation and oneness towards our uncorrupted global backdrop is at its most riveting, dazzling and intense in the composition that precedes "Bird's Song" dubbed "Mountain Song". Here Collins masterfully personifies the sweeping melody of the fields and the musical opus concerning all that tenderly surrounds nature's picturesque beauty in a rhythmic, whimsical manner. "As I Stood upon the Mountaintop", one of the single best unions of pen to paper in the tome, carries on this particular line of deliberation luminously as it delicately converses of the sense of magnificent triumph, and undeniable concord with the environmental world, one feels when involved in the action the title bares.
Hard Rain and Thunderstorms is at its most uncompromisingly personal and subjective in compositions such as "Slow Suicide". In this tremendously honest bit Collins furthers the varying theme of modern day mortal relationships by weaving a tremendous ode to both his nicotine addiction and also the brutal drudgery of withdraw. This is done brilliantly and with a clear, intelligent and knowing focus as he sees this aforementioned compulsion through the iris of a more traditional correlation where he knows greatly of the evident danger but still cannot heed his obsessions.
Collins continues to weave his individual torment into a more introspective and pain stricken manner in poetic works such as the abandoned and outcast visions perfectly personified in the staggeringly sorrowful "I Know What it's like" and the darkly alluring "One of the Nights I killed Myself." In these pieces we further glimpse into his haunted and secret agony expertly from a first person view that amplifies both the exemplified misery found within. Those poetic compositions are immaculate in there transcendence of his brimming melancholy and Collins finds the perfect atmospheric note to bring his grief-stricken meditations unto the page.
What lies as the cornerstone of the entire volume appears to be Collins' ever-changing outlook on religion. Often the underlying topic of an omnipotent creator is brought forward in tones occasionally praising, sporadically denouncing yet, the most potent is the mocking and overwhelmingly cynical tone found in "I God Am". This is amongst the most powerful pieces in the entire gathering and his wordplay here is simply searing as he views God as a being looking down gleefully on the destruction and infinite chaos he has brought upon the world.
As is evident from above, Collins utilizes mainly classic subject matter within the work's sixty four pages but flawlessly unveils an aesthetic method to mix it with commonplace attitudes, contemplations and sensibility. He evokes a stylistic banter in this effort that is forthright yet heartfelt, gentle and aggressive, staggeringly complex while comprehensive. To coincide with this, especially the timeless focuses at hand, the melodic lyricism he often displays within the pages of this opus is wonderfully reminiscent of the Victorian era of poetic odes and song. This is quite a tremendous feat and Collins pulls it off effortlessly.
The above mentioned classic style is best utilized, and also most visible, in such heart rendering eulogies as "In Time of Sleeping", where he discourses on our own mortality through the unblinking iris of the deceased. With this he employs the previously stated method of word usage alongside subject matter to bring the composition to powerful, immaculately conceived being. This is done equally as well in "Ode to No One" where he brings to wonderfully embodied life his thoughts of death's ever-watching eye. These respective poetic ballads view Collins returning to the contemplation of demise and its release from the gnawing extremities of painful existence in a mature, clever fashion rarely seen erupting from the pens of modern authors.
Largely because many of the poetic terminologies in this singular assortment are under twenty five lines in duration the overall pace of the volume remains rapid fire yet every bit as graceful and focused as the works' themselves. The swift stepped movement of this collection of rhyme is due primarily to Hard Rain and Thunderstorm's flawlessly conceived layout. Subject matter and form are aligned in such a striking, fully deliberated approach that every continued composition in the volume's duration appears, whether articulated or in a subtle technique, to be continuing on all previously addressed topics. This execution works phenomenally and aids tremendously in making the entire publication an utterly unproblematic read.
Conclusively, Hard Rain and Thunderstorms: Collected Poems exists as an extraordinarily well thought out, complete, well rounded and serenely tasteful effort that exhibits Collins as a voice of experience, wisdom and supreme intellectual capabilities. His undeniable appreciation for modern terminology and ageless expression, as well as unbounded substance and concrete thought, evokes a fresh, unique mode of communication that makes him a commanding wielder of the spoken word. Collins' use of personification, imagery, mood and overall language make him as a truly magnificent writer worthy of great admiration and acclaim as well as this refreshing assembly of verse an absolute must own.
Review of South of Heaven for Poetic Monthly Magazine
South of Heaven, Poetry by Jamie Collins
Jamie Collin's poetry book starts just how it should, with a poem called Today that intrigues and promises and encourages the reader to turn the page. Like most modern poetry books, South of Heaven treads a path through lost love and betrayed security, but lighter touches leap unexpectedly with "...the moisture of morning dew / Soft kisses that tickle your imagination / And still my pen writes more..." Simple profundity and powerful brevity characterize many of the poems, raising this collection above many others. Serious poetic form is beautifully treated too in the singular As I Stood Upon the Mountaintop, with the same natural carving of words as in five-line declamations.
South of Heaven is not a perfect poetry collection; but then, what is? The poems span many styles, some flowing effortlessly, some so tightly edited they leave the reader gasping for air. A few occasional stragglers struggle through drum-beats of predictable rhythm and rhyme, but they can be forgiven. There's a pleasing sense of thoughts flowing onward from author's pen to page to reader's eye. My Last Love Poem is not the last, of course, but nor is a World of Lies all that remains. The deceptive simplicity of Shipwreck's five-line heart-break jumps delightfully to Mr. Squirrel's Circus, with spring and hope renewed.
Jamie Collins has written a poetry book that weeps but doesn't wallow, that pours emotions without self-indulgence, and that leaves thoughts lingering in the reader's mind-a collection well-worth reading, nicely organized, tightly edited and well produced.
Title: South of Heaven
Author: Jamie Collins
Rating: 4
Reviewed for Poetic Monthly by Sheila Deeth
Jamie Collin's poetry book starts just how it should, with a poem called Today that intrigues and promises and encourages the reader to turn the page. Like most modern poetry books, South of Heaven treads a path through lost love and betrayed security, but lighter touches leap unexpectedly with "...the moisture of morning dew / Soft kisses that tickle your imagination / And still my pen writes more..." Simple profundity and powerful brevity characterize many of the poems, raising this collection above many others. Serious poetic form is beautifully treated too in the singular As I Stood Upon the Mountaintop, with the same natural carving of words as in five-line declamations.
South of Heaven is not a perfect poetry collection; but then, what is? The poems span many styles, some flowing effortlessly, some so tightly edited they leave the reader gasping for air. A few occasional stragglers struggle through drum-beats of predictable rhythm and rhyme, but they can be forgiven. There's a pleasing sense of thoughts flowing onward from author's pen to page to reader's eye. My Last Love Poem is not the last, of course, but nor is a World of Lies all that remains. The deceptive simplicity of Shipwreck's five-line heart-break jumps delightfully to Mr. Squirrel's Circus, with spring and hope renewed.
Jamie Collins has written a poetry book that weeps but doesn't wallow, that pours emotions without self-indulgence, and that leaves thoughts lingering in the reader's mind-a collection well-worth reading, nicely organized, tightly edited and well produced.
Title: South of Heaven
Author: Jamie Collins
Rating: 4
Reviewed for Poetic Monthly by Sheila Deeth
Review of South of Heaven by BK Walker
South Of Heaven by Jamie Collins was an absolutely wonderful collection of poetry.
Beautifully written collection of poems with a bit of inspiration, emotion, and meaningful insight.
I'm sure the poems in South Of Heaven all stem from personal truths, but Collins has held nothing back in portraying the beauty of well written poetry.
My Love Is Dying
My love is dying
and I don't know what to do.
I tried to survive it
but I think I'm dying too.
I don't know where I'm going,
only god knows where I've been.
I feel a river flowing,
through my veins again.
It runs as cold as ice
and as blue as the sky.
I feel it deep within
my love is dying tonight.
I give South Of Heaven ***** (5) Stars, BK Walker Books
http://bkwalkerbooks.weebly.com
BK Walker Books - All Rights Reserved. Used with Permission.
The Review on BK Walker Books
Review of Internal Civil War for Poetic Monthly Magazine
Internal Civil War
Poetry by Jamie Collins
Reviewed for Poetic Monthly
Reviewed by Maggie Grinnell
The book of poetry by Jamie Collins is well written. I can feel that the words come from the heart.
The main poem, 'Internal Civil War', I love to read. It is about war but not the war that takes place in another country. The war takes place inside that persons' head.
'I am the Pedestal' is a poem of words which start out one view and then change to another view in the second paragraph. I love the switch.
I think, 'I Know What It's Like', is a beautiful read. The ending sentence says it all: I know what it's like to be loved. Aww.
Then the wording changes on the next poem as the page is flipped. 'I'm Not As Happy As You Think I am' is very cleaver and very creative in its wording,
'Days of Gray' is a sad mixture of words but a good read anyways.
I say the poem with the most beautiful imagery is 'Somewhere In My House Of Cards'. Just read the poem and you will understand what I mean.
'I Go To Sleep' is very deep in only the few words that are written.
'Cure For Old Age' is very profane.
The last poem, 'Fragile', spoke to me the most. In only a few words, I felt what Jamie Collins was feeling. This poem reminds me how I felt when I got divorced.
I didn't think I could relate or have any type of emotion when I read the title of this poetry book. But the adage: Don't judge a book by its cover should be in this instance, don't judge a book by the title.
I give this book **** 4 stars
