THE WORLD’S LARGEST PERPETUALLY FULL BIRDFEEDER/BEEHIVE

Armstrong’s debut book of poetry reflects on the beauty and destructiveness of humankind.

In this thematically diverse collection of poems, Armstrong reflects topics that include his personal struggles with issues such as aging, isolation, and inner turmoil. Divided into three sections—“Modern Life,” “Life, Loss, and Family” and “Science, Nature, and the Universe”—his book also scrutinizes the tyranny of major corporations and their impact on the environment. The poem “The World’s Largest Perpetually Full Bird Feeder/Bees Nest” proves a tender, whimsical opening, in which a huge tree stump is repurposed by the poet: “I drilled and drilled all over the tree / The perfect size for the solitary bee…” The tenor of the poetry rapidly changes with poems such as “Legalized Fraud or Marketing,” which pours vitriol on the corporate world: “Corporate sows the seeds of deceit and fear / Eat this pill, use this cream, or die right here…” Other poems deal with war, the afterlife, the difficulties of learning to play the guitar, and the importance of respecting nature. Armstrong’s writing has the power to surprise with its brutal wisdom. In “Stupid Poem,” about humankind’s failures, he notes: “Squirrels have managed the forests / With a brain the size of a pea / Humans took over the management / And fucked it up in less than a century.” The lines may not scan perfectly, but they present an inescapable truth. Armstrong’s poetry is peppered with evocative imagery, as in “Beginning A New Life” where the “underground trains” are “crammed with people like pickle jars.” There is a naive beauty to the poem “Travelling,” about love beyond death: “When our remains dissolve into matter / I will hold your hand as we scatter.” One significant drawback is Armstrong’s reliance on rhyming that is often disappointingly elementary. The inappropriate singsong rhyme scheme employed in poems such as “Death” results in the oversimplification of a complex and somber subject: “Of course, death is the end / It doesn’t seem to bend / It doesn’t seem to mend / It has no friend.” This book has some clever and touching moments, but unsophisticated rhyming results in an inevitable loss of gravitas.

An observant and heartfelt but technically flawed collection.