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A review by pickle_burner
Masked Man, Black: Pandemic & Protest Poems by Frank X Walker
4.0
I think I read that F. Walker wrote these in a different manner than his normal process for writing and editing poems. Essentially, there was less fuss than a poet and his/her editor might normally provide. If you are a regular reader of poetry and are able to accept this gambit, this collection will provide many revelations both personal and political. As a dad, I related to a lot of what I found in these lines. As a middle aged white guy, I learned a lot and felt the anger, sadness, and hope that permeates this collection. It was illuminating, unsettling, yet also comforting.
If you are one of those folks who might be disinclined to take this "seriously" because of the immediacy in which it was written and published, I guess I might ask that you examine what use art (of any kind) is supposed to serve. When people are dying because of the color of their skin or bc of a the gross failings of the political system, when the world is on fire (literally and figuratively), what sense does it make to sit on a poem and worry over it until it is "perfect?" I would argue that it makes no sense and that different times require different types of art, art that is produced in different ways. There's an immediacy to these poems that should be absorbed, understood, and accounted for by the reader. The "Wasteland" couldn't have been written in the bunkers of WWI.
Personally, I deeply appreciated the tone and format of this book. I appreciated the immediacy. I've been reading Mr. Walker's work since "Affrilachia" came out, and this is a wonderful addition to his work.
If you are one of those folks who might be disinclined to take this "seriously" because of the immediacy in which it was written and published, I guess I might ask that you examine what use art (of any kind) is supposed to serve. When people are dying because of the color of their skin or bc of a the gross failings of the political system, when the world is on fire (literally and figuratively), what sense does it make to sit on a poem and worry over it until it is "perfect?" I would argue that it makes no sense and that different times require different types of art, art that is produced in different ways. There's an immediacy to these poems that should be absorbed, understood, and accounted for by the reader. The "Wasteland" couldn't have been written in the bunkers of WWI.
Personally, I deeply appreciated the tone and format of this book. I appreciated the immediacy. I've been reading Mr. Walker's work since "Affrilachia" came out, and this is a wonderful addition to his work.