henry 7 reneau jr. is a poet of intense talent, and one I truly respect after experiencing his work. There’s a sense of dissonance when the reader is first exposed to his poetry, but the overwhelming look of his work on the page draws the reader into an engaging experience. In his latest collection, freedomland blues (left un-capitalized as it is on the cover), henry 7 pummels us with harsh and disorienting works that leave us returning several times. Written to open eyes, he allows us to form our own opinions and decisions regarding several hot-button topics in America today.
If you have never known what the blues were, you will learn it through this collection. Each poem takes a daunting and somewhat melancholy look at different stages of life and love, American politics and racism. We as people have a sense of what freedom should be; an idea of values that make this immaculate feeling we all share. henry takes that and brings out all the flaws and disgusting parts of our ideals and forces us to see them for what they are. He shoves our sense of self-importance right back at us, and it’s one hard ride.
freedomland blues is a true poetry collection. It is one I definitely recommend to anyone interested in blues poetry.
To grab your copy of freedomland blues, go to http://www.transcendentzeropress.org
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