FLAMINGOS ON THE ROOF

Twenty-eight more flights of fancy from a rapidly improving nabob of nonsense. Here, working mostly in flat, dark colors, Brown pairs scenes featuring stylized human and animal figures with big almond eyes to verses that introduce oddball sorts. So the portmanteau “Allicatter Gatorpillar,” takes readers to “Weatherbee’s Diner” where the cooks literally cook up a storm, and muse over such knotty questions as how an audience of slugs might applaud or whether it’s right to have a birthday cake with light bulbs rather than candles. The art isn’t all just post-modern decoration either; “Never mind the passing sights— / There’s nothing much to see,” Brown ironically assures readers as two riders in a “TV Taxi,” eyes glued to boob tubes, pass obliviously by a dodo, a dinosaur and other uncommon sights. Composed with a fine ear for consistent rhythms and silly wordplay, these verses will tempt readers into repeat visits, or as the poet puts it: “Swivel on your kneecap. / Wobble like a mud flap. / Take a little catnap. / Do it all again!” (Poetry. 8-11)