Reviews
– the deplorable poet
What The Critics Say
TESTIMONIALS FROM AROUND THE WORLD
Original Poetry Expressing The Human Journey
The Deplorable Poet/Greg Tucker is sharing a new kind of unorthodox poetry where anything goes, from political mockery and hypocrisy exposed, to more personal reflections of how life is sometimes not all sugar and honey, but has the bitterness of sour cream and vinegar at times.
The truth is expressed from a libertarian heart in his own creative views. His poetry is engaging and holds nothing back from its black and white views. Poems like “Jesus Unfriended Me,” “The Beast in Me,” and “Some Men” are blatantly honest in approach with bluntness, but then there are fun poems like, “Dogs Rule” and “Licking You” that show our human side to bond with our beloved pets.
The Deplorable Poet also expresses grief and loss in relatable earthy ways through his poetry. “Sour Cream and Vinegar” is metaphorical in presenting scenarios of society, like “The Fox and the Blackbird.” Slyly, the author also uses his sarcasm and humor to lace his points of view in his writing.
I recommend his original poetry to those who can relate to the ups and downs of the human journey and its trials. My favorite poem is, “Oak Tree Concerto”….for its spiritual message of redemption despite this world of chaos and regrets. Great collection of poetry to read in doses each night and ponder. I enjoyed! 😉
–The Passion queen
Great Book!
A Must Read!
5 Star Review
5 Star Review
A great write, Greg. This one really gets me thinking.
“if we could be there”
There are times when I think those very words! Mostly, these days, I think about it when I look at my kids. They are grown up now but I often reflect upon their childhood days and think to myself, oh, if only we could be there.
Definitely a great write x
– Christina J
The self-identified “deplorable poet” doesn’t quite live up to his name in this thoughtful, sometimes pained collection, a follow-up to the more avowedly political Social Distancing This!: A Confessional Imagist View Without Political Correctness. As his pen name suggests, the author, a specialist in criminal studies and forensic behavioral science, feels at odds with contemporary American society, but readers hoping for (or dreading) a MAGA screed may be surprised by what he actually offers: a searching, occasionally self-damning portrait of a man facing grief, the fear of abandonment, and the possibility that he has been corrupted like the criminals he has faced in his day job.
“The beast in me/ Wears a leash/ Called self-control,/ Which is guided/ More by self-perseverance / Than moral convictions,” he writes. Those lines—jagged, abrupt, scraped of ambiguity—exemplify the poet’s work, as does their bent. Throughout, the author returns to the theme of mastering his darkest impulses, of fearing that he bears a “Curse/ of/ Caine/ A Stench/ That cannot/ Be/ Removed.” This raw, confessional approach compels both as poetry and as unstinting self-portraiture. “Did I Forget You” incisively questions the limits of his own perspective; “Cornfield of Abandonment” takes on bereavement but also a broader sense of being alone and adrift, imagining Hell as a place “Where/ Communication/ To our/ Creator/ And the/ Ones we Love/ Ceases.” At times, his touch is light, as when he muses “I Believe/ Jesus/ Has/ Unfriended/ Me.”
Curiously, the least engaging lines are the directly political ones, which tend toward generic gripes about “the media” or prosaic statements of principle: “There is no such/ Thing as a free/ Ride/ When it comes/ From big brother.” Welcome celebrations of dogs and Anne Sexton, plus parodies of “The Red Wheelbarrow,” brighten the mood, and the comic scenario in “The Devil’s Advocate”—in which Satan’s lawyer toasts the sanctity of attorney-client privilege—has welcome bite.
Takeaway: A collection of curt, incisive poetry that lays bare a self-proclaimed “deplorable”‘s soul.
Great for fans of: Aaron Goldstein, The Conservative Poets: A Contemporary Anthology.
Production Grades
Cover: A-
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: A-
Marketing copy: B+
Print Date: 07/19/2021
