MISTER TOEBONES Poems

There is no shortage of fine poets in the United States today, and Brooks Haxton has to be counted among them. In this audiobook, his talent is matched by that of narrator Edoardo Ballerini and benefits from Ballerini's straightforward treatment. The poems are clear and accessible on the first hearing--but rewarding on a second or third. The readings focus on clarity without diminishing subtlety. Ballerini makes the syntax and line breaks equally easy to hear. It would be easy to overdramatize some of the poems--for example, a long piece involving the murder of one of Haxton's ancestors in pre-Civil War Louisiana--but he resists that temptation and leaves room for the listener's interpretation and involvement. D.M.H. © AudioFile 2021, Portland, Maine [Published: MAY 2021]