Poetry, good poetry, can make you feel a certain way and take you on an unexpected journey in your own mind and “The Unbelievable Believable: more tales from the Baron” by Billy J Barnum was no exception.

There were visions of clowns, evil things, strong emotions, accidents, genies, deserted island and so much more! I was picturing and journeying through each poem with my heart racing or breaking in some of them. 

Some poems were more powerful than others and gave me the chills, such as “I’ll wait for you”, “Seasons”, “Pass me by”, “Hit and Run”, just to name a few. There were others that made me giggle because they made me picture things in my own life, such as “Baby”, “Pay for Electric”, “Toilet Paper Pandemic”. There is a poem for almost everything, even ones that tackled being a better human and the human psyche in general.

There are, of course, “okay” poems and won’t be everybody’s cup of tea but that can and should be expected, and that is the amazing thing about poetry! It can be read and felt in so many ways that will please some and not others.

Some poems taught lessons such as “Pass me by” and it literally made my whole body break out in goosebumps because of how relatable it is, especially with todays economy and what people think when seeing something like that. Some poems, like “Hit and Run”, made my mouth drop open and ask myself, “is this really a true story?” while “Cancer” made my heart race reaching to the end wondering if this person was still alive.

“Blessing and a Curse” and “Shine” are also ones that made my heart race, but in a different way. It made me live the words and picture myself and wonder if my true self is shining or a curse. I drifted off wondering about my own deeds and what people say about me.

“Poem for the fallen” was relatable because my husband is a Marine and has experienced the heartache of losing his men. I made him read that poem and he said he liked it, said it made him think of the battlefield with his buddies and going to war but it wasn’t sad like other poems, in which all he pictures is death.

On the side notes… some of the windows pixel art before each poem were really cool, and most can be improved with the help of a graphic artist to make them stand out and improve even more the overall reading experience.  The cover has my opinion split. A bit wicked, which definitely grabs your attention, and gives the impression that the book will be spooky, but it is far from that.

The ending poem was beautiful and well incorporated with the other poems to wrap up the book, it reminded me of the ones I have read and I appreciated the reminder.

When I read the about the author at the end, I agreed that his poetry was very simple to follow and not the type to make my head hurt with trying to figure out what the poem is about. The poetry itself will tell the reader with majority of the poems being in a AB or ABB pattern that is the readers’ favorite to read.

I look forward to reading more poetry by this author. – Author’s Twitter –

Cover Score: 7.9/10

Book Score: 8.7/10

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