Naked as a blank sheet of paper, Bennett W. McLoughlin stands
before you as he presents his collection of work in Immoral Thoughts & Eternal Poems. Sensitive snippets of thoughts meticulously
arranged reveal the author as a traveler through life, often being hurt or
betrayed by others, causing his poetry to become his sanctuary. Surely he writes about people in his life, aloof
in particular identifiable details causes a form of riddle in his work at
times, and although a name is unimportant, I had the feeling he’s toying his
reading audience whilst starring at the person to whom it’s written about.
Technically, in grammatical terms, his work uses occasional
pararhymes and no consistent - or rather varied pentameters - offering a meter
pace with a changing foot. Being a
pseudo-sonnet sequence, nearly 200 poems
into 6 major categories affording a tidal progression of thoughts through
phases of his emotional evolution.
Structure aside, the content is extremely entertaining and
thought provoking. For example, in Message, he writes, “But always have
faith in your spirituality; when you feel the world is spinning all around you,
remember to spin in the opposite direction creating that passive energy as well
as you can.” I thought to myself the
motion of the Earth’s Coriolis Effect and how one’s steadfast belief in God
sets a personal course through the perils of societal influence. Page after page, Immoral Thoughts & Eternal Poems extracted my own reverberations
of thoughtful ponderance causing me to gravitate to Bennett W. McLoughlin’s
work with profound pleasure.
This exactly 200 page collection is clad in a cover photo
showing a blurred image of an older metropolitan street, with the stark silhouette
of a leafless tree, defining a winter scene amidst the last gleam of the sun
setting. Noticeably the cars direction
indicates the photograph is taken looking back, as from the rear of a bus. I can only imagine how Ben had his leather
bound notebook, favorite pen, and fresh thoughts in his mind as he prolifically
wrote his sensitive, revealing, innermost thoughts while returning from his
life altering episode. As an
entrepreneurial detail I haven’t seen before, he offers readers a signed handwritten copy of any of his poems if
contacted for a nominal fee – quite clever and no doubt creates a bond with his
reading audience. I think I’ll order Message.
Available soon at Amazon.com
