A fresh and engaging perspective on life’s unpredictable moments.
Party Animals is a modern collection of poems that offers readers an introspective look at our place in the grand scheme of things. Ethan Heusser explores everything from spirituality to the economy with style, brightness, and a golden tongue. The three main divisions, Phylogenetics, Cladistics, and Divergence, serve as thematic stepping stones, all leading to a definite destination. The first part is a pleasant introduction to the collection that is slightly nostalgic, gently reminiscent, and imbued with quiet reflection. After readers trace the subtle imprints of memory and experiences that linger, themes get progressively more serious. Social justice, economic disparity, and religious liberation are just a handful of the elements that intersect and influence the poems. Adhering to no single poetic structure, the author embraces a range of techniques. This versatility establishes varied moods, tones, and rhythms tailored to fit the essence of each piece. A few examples include abrupt line breaks to create a sense of urgency, slashes between statements that deeply embed a sense of fragmentation, or asterisks to indicate a change in style or perspective.
If you’re used to stodgy, traditional, or predictably patterned poetry, you’ll find this collection to be eye-opening. There are endless surprises hidden among these enigmatic poems. A Radical Decision touches on religion without a hint of religiosity, ending on a note of lightness and love. Joy of Painting yields a tender line conveying an intention to understand people on a deeper level. Rather than a passing glance or a few quick brushstrokes, Heusser writes, “I am going to learn their shapes.” Some poems encourage deep contemplation, appreciation, or a sense of wonder. Others might simply command you to eat red bean porridge. Is this an invitation to expand our cultural understanding or simply a reminder to have a hearty meal? Either way, these unexpected breaks keep the collection from weighing too heavily without veering into pretentious territory. With an emphasis on the natural world and everyday details like sugar ants or laundry detergent, the poems seamlessly blend the ordinary and profound, the soft and harsh, perception and reality. Audiences will inevitably draw different conclusions and experience differing emotions from these free-verse and narrative poems. Conversational, ambiguous, and organic, Party Animals offers a fresh and engaging perspective on life’s unpredictable moments.
