Alamo Theory

August 1, 2016
Bell (No Planets Strike) tackles difficult matters of contemporary politics and society in his second collection, scattering throughout the book a series of poems that appropriate the persona of former Mötley Crüe front man Vince Neil. Readers should prepare to chew on every word; Bell has a tendency towards sprawling lines, dense prose poems, and unanswerable questions. He also addresses his material obliquely. "All night long I think I've been wearing a certain hat," Bell writes in "Your Prime Minister Speaks." He continues, "But by now it should be obvious to you, as it is not obvious to me, that I am actually wearing a different hat altogether," asking, in effect, whether those in power know what they are doing and whether it matters. "And who are you/ out there saying," he asks, "that the language/ is still your friend?" For all the collection's sensory overload, the less showy shorter poems pack the most power: "Even then,/ in that silence that seemed almost/ a silence, sadly we were not/ alone." The shifts between the surreal and the earnest can be jarring, even if they fit their 21st century social context. Perhaps that's the point. And one way or another, whether it's Bell's brief flashes of insight or his long-winded verbosity, readers will be left breathless.

June 15, 2016

In poems that look dense but read in a fluid, easy tumble, Bell (No Planets Strike) offers characters and scenarios that border on the surreal ("no one's getting/ off this tractor alive, no one without/ a pod of vanilla, Stuck like a witch's/ finger in the throat") yet are grounded in everyday discontents ("Apologies/ to the inhabitants of the condo/ next to my condo"). The observations are arresting and almost witty, almost wry, and a character named Josh occasionally wanders along to engage with others. Fittingly, voice (and the voice box) feature thematically, as reading this work is like listening raptly to a verbose, intensely smart friend expatiate on life. VERDICT Both serious and entertaining, this collection could draw even those who don't typically read poetry.

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