Shadow Folk and Soul Songs is nothing more, nothing less than a rhymed revolution. A call of pride. A shout to remember the value and the strength of all Negroes, the African-American culture and a screeching appeal to the understanding of a nation as a whole.
This short, very well woven work is powerful and deeply honest.
As a reader, you feel the emotions that Matthew Johnson forces onto you through the imagery effortlessly constructed in the verses.
Themes such as music (jazz, blues, rock, rap and hip-hop), religion, slavery, racism, social neglect, discrimination are professionally portrayed in strong, civilized way, letting the reader immerse in the “deep South”, and suburbs roots.
It’s beautiful and inspiring.
Who should read this book? Everyone that likes culture, folklore and western style narrative, for this book, will not get old.
Pros
– Unique style both in rhyming and tonality.
– Strong poems.
– Amusing to read.
– The poems that are longer, are well constructed and feel “short-story-like” with a good punchline.
– Thought provocative.
Cons
– None.
Our favorite poems
“Self-Portrait”, “If we must Rhyme”, “I tried to count the stars”, “For world”, “As strong as we know how”, “Dialect of a standard An’ Dunbar”, “The reliable narrator”, “Sing it Sam”, “Lazarus is a black man”, “The sun looks upon me, why won’t you?”, “The music maker deathbed confession”.
Scribble's Worth 