Devin Johnston's MOSSES AND LICHENS

The best of the "nature poems" is the title poem "Mosses and Lichens," with its precise yet evocative descriptions, and probing, profound human meaning. The other nature poems in the collection resort to nature a little too easily for metaphor. The best of the "character poems" are "Frankie," for its interesting use of legal language to describe a violent crime, and "Parlor Music," for its accurate depiction of a deceased aunt through the accumulation of well-chosen details. The other "character poems" are forgettable. The smaller pieces, reminiscent of haiku, usually appearing as sequences, make no great impression. The pieces after Ovid are too smooth and workmanlike: they lack personality.

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