Birds of Wisconsin

Birds of Wisconsin
B.J. Best's collection of poetry, Birds of Wisconsin can be divided in to three sections: Instructions on Flying, The Prayers of Birds, and Instructions on Landing of birds. On "Instructions on Landing," section he introduces Gromme the painter and the conflicts of the birds and the conflict of Gromme with different outside entities. The poems are written from the perspective of different kinds of birds, explaining specific characteristics that could be observed about the birds by anybody. There is a nice flow in the book, and the sections are most appropriately ordered. The author looked inside the birds. His poems can make emotional moments between the reader and the birds. It is something any one can relate to. He personified birds in a way that anybody could relate to. The poet unifies and forms a complete, coherent imagery in the eyes of readers within. In most poems there is lack of unified imagery but in these poems all of the imagery is imparted to the reader, each is well-made, and they fit and work together. The author takes his observations to a much deeper place where science and physiology merge with animal instinct. The book is divided into three parts, the first and last of roughly equal length. The first part of the poems explores the concept of flight, the ways in which humans attempt to dissect and mimic. The third section examines "landing," .The second section of Birds of Wisconsin, titled "The Prayers of Birds," stands out from the rest, and it is the most simplistic of the rest of the poems.