And Howls for us to Follow
A Book of Poems
By Kenny Rose Butts

      It is safe to say that the attacks on 9/11 began the age of fanatical politics. You’re either on one side or the other, and there’s no hope of an in-between. Using his amazing talent of word-twisting and beat-finding, Butts gives us a look inside what he considers to be happening around us. With his collection of poems that skip back and forth through the 1990s and 2000s, Butts has compiled a massive load of intoxicating rhythms and language that makes even an English major like me covet his talent. Going through the relationships of man, animal, and war (which takes up nearly half the book itself), Butts offers us a look at one view of the world and what is happening around us now.

      Instead of going on and on about how much I will treasure this book for as long as I’m able to comprehend it, I’d like to share a tidbit of one of his many poems.

From “Screeeeech”:

“...Electromagnetic bombardment, satellite saturation, egocentric infatuation
                    protected speech is reigning down on me
                       protected by the Telecommunications Act of 1996
              the FCC says, sí, sí, to the ATT’s
                       but what about me
                 microwave me, raise me up one degree Celsius or elsius!
                         It’s sí, sí, to Globestar but not you and me...”

      Butt’s style reminds me of the way a rap is formulated with the constant beat-driven rhyming that, if done well, is as powerful as a shock to the brain. It is full of political views that are liberal in ideology, but regardless of what I disagree or agree with, this book is worth keeping in the treasured pile. His talent as a poet and liberalist are definitely something to be respected and not scoffed at.