After Goya By Roger Aplon

After Goya  By Roger Aplon

After Goya By Roger Aplon

Roger Aplon has put together a collection of poems with a wide variety of sections. In each one, there’s a contrast in style, theme, and so on. The poems are intense, each one simply enough to stand on its own.

Amazon USA      

“After Goya”

New & Selected Poems

By Roger Aplon

77 pages

ISBN: 978-93-90601-10-3

Cyberwit

www.cyberwit.net

Copyright 2021

 

Review by LB Sedlacek

 

Roger Aplon has put together a collection of poems with a wide variety of sections.  In each one, there’s a contrast in style, theme, and so on.  The poems are intense, each one simply enough to stand on its own.

 

From the poem “Just-Like-That”:

“The valley floor heaves & rumbles as rain cascades & lightning

chases them to their king-size bed where he slips

into her & panthers race the sky & coyotes scream with their

ghosts swimming through mesquite & cactus &”

 

His visuals are outstanding.  It’s the poet’s gift to be able to use imagery to say what you mean in only a few words, lines, or verses.

 

His poems are stunning and draw from all sorts of things.  The poems are set apart by some of the underlying philosophies in them.  Aplon delivers a literary feel that touches hearts, souls and minds.  His poems are relevant.

 

From the poem “There’s a Hole That Cannot Be Filled”:

“There’s a hole in the hall & another in the door that leads to the bedroom &

another in the kitchen &

in fact, there are holes throughout this house & the garden is filled

with holes &

there are holes in the visions of those who live here & thrive on

empty spaces &”

 

What his poems tackle at times seem ambitious.  Yet, he constantly achieves what he is after.  Each poem seems to unveil something else or something more than what it seems each one ending in a good conclusion.  The end of a poem is just as important as the beginning and the middle. 

 

“After Goya” is the stuff that good poems are made of.  Aplon has had several other books as well as chapbooks published.

 

He writes to shine a light, to make change.  Each word seems carefully chosen and fraught with meaning.  He places each line in just the right spot to move the flow of the poem, to get the message across.  What is poetry without conveying something or motivating the reader?

 

From the poem “Desert Lullaby”:

“Remembering (Among So Many) the Hass Refugee Camp – Idlib, Syria – 8/16/2019

Yes Tonight A camp Initiated for the Safety & Health of

the Disoriented Displaced & Dislodged Lies silent only

Fragments of Bodies that Once Filled its Squalid Tents Remain

& Yes as Reported a Bomb From a Lone Russian Jet Dissolved

All Hope of Life With a Whimper & a Bang & So Yes

We Announce & Plead We’re So Sick of War & The Thugs”

 

Alpon dedicates this book of poems to “all those who continue the fight for Enlightenment & Freedom, Wherever & Whenever.”  He does good work with this in his collection. 

 

The book is divided into sections titled “Encounters,” “To Witness,” “Six New Improvisations,” “Celebrating the Free Musical Improvisations of Anthony Tan,” and “Goya’s.”  Each one compliments the other almost like experiencing a movie or play in so many acts.

 

From the poem “After:  Anthony Tan’s Un/Divided”:

“Humm – Humm – Humm & gatt & got & gaunt & got gaunt &

She breathes & He gasps & dit & dit & dot-dot & catch & wire on fire

& eery & envy & tink & tingle & mum & mum & mum & boc & book

& botch & up & down & here’s the weather & the Giant whispers &”

 

Reading his poems are like listening to a serious song, a chant, a ceremony of sorts.  These poems can be loud or quiet, but either way they blast you into thinking about what’s being said.

 

 

~LB Sedlacek is the author of the poetry collections “I’m No ROBOT,” “Words and Bones,” “Simultaneous Submissions,” “The Adventures of Stick People on Cars,” and “The Poet Next Door.”  Her first short story collection came out last year entitled “Four Thieves of Vinegar & Other Short Stories.”  Her mystery novel “The Glass River” was nominated for the Thomas Wolfe Memorial Literary Award.  She writes poetry reviews for “The Poetry Market Ezine” www.thepoetrymarket.com  You can find out more about her at www.lbsedlacek.com