Fire Molten and Ash by Clarence Barbee - Book Review

Fire Molten and Ash by Clarence Barbee is a short and diverse poetry collection divided into 3 parts: Heat, Fuel, and Oxygen; kind of like the recipe you need to get a fire started.

When I first started reading Fire Molten and Ash I felt lost in the pieces. I liked some parts of the wording and how Barbee phrases his pieces but I was lost. I'd read the poem from start to finish, silently or out loud, but in the end, I wouldn't 'get' it.

Bit by bit, I got used to Barbee's style and there were a few political poems in there; some of which I could relate to, because who hasn't been keeping up with news about US politics, but some were too US-focused for me. For those who don't know, I'm an Egyptian living in Egypt so the details of US politics can sometimes evade me (especially now that I no longer work in the news business).

But back to Fire Molten and Ash, there were a few pieces that wowed me including "Crudeship," one of those political pieces.

Many of the poems in this collection are relatable, especially "To Continue" and "Sometime Before Tomorrow and 5pm," which talk about life and work and the two combined. These two pieces were 5-star poems for me.

I also loved "#Fragile II." It's a brilliant poem, using the hashtag #vss which is short for 'very short story.'  All of the pieces in the second segment of the book "Fuel" have the #vss hashtag.

I read Fire Molten and Ash in one sitting in March but I've postponed the review to April to coincide with National Poetry Month.

Overall rating for Fire Molten and Ash is 3 stars.

Note: I received a free copy of Fire Molten and Ash from its author Clarence Barbee in exchange for an honest review. This did not in any way affect my review.