Customer Reviews

Homeless at Home: Selected Poems

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John Birkbeck reminds me of the old addage that has it, "Show me a funny man and I'll show you an angry one." Birkbeck's poetry seems to have a lot of rage beneath the surface, yet without malice. It is a rage to see life as it is and as it could be. I once met Birkbeck at a conference, and had a chance to talk to him over dinner. He is one of the funniest people I've ever met, even when speaking of horrific things. The poems in "Homeless At Home" remind me much of that memorable dinner so many years ago. I highly recommend this latest work of John Birkbeck.

The poems in Birkbeck's book are enchanting; they are like colourful little fables, sometimes bitingly caustic, sometimes playfully goofy. These poems, most of them short and sparing in words, are the literary equivalent of hieroglyphs. They seem to cover a lot of territory in brief patches. It is very hard to determine this poet's voice, however-- is it sad, mad or bad? or maybe it's all three, seperately or ensemble. Birkbeck is both a lost and a found soul. Read on!

Shortly after John Birkbeck came out with "Longitudes," he has set out another collection of poems titled "Homeless at Home." Birkbeck seems to be picking up speed and regailing the literary world with still more of his grim but fanciful but exhillarating poems, which are short but succinct. In fact, it seems that a lot of them are really stanzas of one long poem. He seems to be making fun of the Passing Parade, and at others, prancing along at the head of it. A gripping read, this book, and must be read!