Book Review: Milo Martin's "Poems for the Utopian Nihilist"

This is one of those books one cannot help but wish one wrote. Milo Martin writes poems for what is being touted as the first new movement in poetry in the 21^st century: the Utopian Nihilists, (for an idea of what that is Martin has kindly included a Manifesto in the back).

These poems follow a flow-of-thought pattern, not always coming full circle, and are always surprising. The rhythms, use of repetition and long rambling lines point to a body of work clearly meant to be performed. Precursors to Martin would include the Beats and the Slam culture. Yet Martin's almost jazz-like compositions are very much products of this time. It may be that no other poet writing today has yet captured the uniqueness of 21^st century living and viewpoints as has Martin.

Each piece in Poems for the Utopian Nihilist feels like a wild, rollicking and spontaneous journey. It is clear, without reading the author's bio, that these works spring from the beautifully varied and energizing culture of California. Martin has composed a book that a reader will revel in again and again and always sense something new. Intoxicating, delightful yet unflinching, Martin sings like a tarnished bell proclaiming the imminent death of our time while enjoying every moment of madness as if each were the consummate joy of all joys.