And then we have Tongue for Folíe by Janice Brabaw, an incredible barrage of words by which Janice examines herself, her life, and her projected future. She’s scary, she’s desirable, she’s a fireball. In sharp contrast to Michaelian’s selfless work, you enter a totally Janicentric universe when you open this book. Her poetry flows like water—it’s quick and supple and can topple you over. Or maybe it flows like lava—it’s dangerous and hot and can burn you. Wow. She ends the book’s lead-off poem, “Five-Dollar Wine” thus:

I am something, someone,

to proceed toward with caution

and great enthusiasm.

In “Seething Fiona,” accompanied by an epigraph by Fiona Apple, she says:

You are to be warned

I am not to be underestimated

Let’s not pretend, placate

Calm, riding, solid, writhing

Let’s face it.

To you,

I am the scariest thing

in this room.

There’s always this feeling when reading Brabaw’s work that you are in the presence of energy that is about to burst through its bonds. A few examples, chosen at random:

I shall go down in history

as declaring my poetry the orgasmic

splatter

that rages and erupts

spilling over your thighs and rampaging

through

the pubic mountainside, clumping the

trees

and bushes and twigs with ectoplasmic

love and disregard

for the way words, the way sperm, were

intended.

Here’s another:

I’d rather be a violent, vicious,

passion-laden pelvic bruise

than cheap dollar store lipstick

smeared on virgin lip.

And one more:

I am lunar, I am tides

I can’t help the way I ravage seashores

Although one finds sweet passages in here…

I twist the language

like tendrils of hair

around a lover’s finger

…the overriding impression is one of chaos and danger, a universe on the edge of destruction.

Tongue for Folíe concludes with a 12-page mini-epic entitled “Letting Go of Crazy,” in which the author again issues a warning:

Weak, Pathetic, Bruised, Chronic,

Hopeless.

Unstable. Warning. Do not enter. Do

not pass go.

Do not collect two hundred dollars

Approach with Caution. Unpredictable.

Volatile.

Check any applicable symptoms.

Be aware of any potential side effects.

Please sign here, you have been

informed.

On the last page of “Letting Go of Crazy,” she writes:

I have let go of crazy

Waved to Hades, said goodbye

But crazy has not let go of me.

This book is exhausting to read due to the frantic energy with which it is written. It is an experience—a visceral, passionate, barely controlled explosion of emotion. To find out more, check out Janice’s website at www.JaniceBrabaw.com. Tongue for Folíe, a bargain at $10.00, is a 125-page perfect-bound paperback, with a provocative cover that’ll make you shiver and tingle. Don’t miss it.