Matt Jasper’s new poetry book, Moth Moon, has been published by BlazeVox! Order it now from Amazon.
This is, of course, cause for celebration! Matt is one of my all-time favorite poets. This would be true even if I didn’t know Matt personally.
If you’ve never read Matt’s poems before, well, you know those writers you’re glad for, because they’ve been places you wouldn’t (or shouldn’t) go? People like William S. Burroughs or Hunter S. Thompson. Only the places Matt Jasper goes to aren’t drug-fueled. Matt engages with people most of us wouldn’t interact with: schizophrenics, criminals, religious fanatics and other diagnoses you’ll find in the DSM-IV. But Matt’s approach is very rare. It’s not patronizing or exploitative. It’s not about packaging the “outsider” for the in crowd. These are just people with different experiences and different viewpoints that are worth hearing. This is just one source Matt draws his inspiration from. There are many true stories in Matt’s poems. The nice thing is, there’s such beauty in the words that even if you can’t decipher the story, it’s still worthwhile just for the sound of it being told.
