Glitter Bomb: Poems

by Aaron Belz

"The poems in Glitter Bomb pull no punches: irreverent, devastating, even nasty at times, they capture the present moment in all its absurdity and hyper-reality. 'Lampwise by altarlight' (pace Dylan Thomas), Aaron Belz keep his eye on the object: often hilarious, he is also wise." -Marjorie Perloff

Genres: Poetry

96 pages, Paperback

First published February 5, 2014

About the author

Aaron Belz has won basically every writing award there is. If you know of a writing award he hasn't won, please notify your mom.

Reviews

[Aaron Belz]

Stunning. I'm stunned.

[Timothy Hoiland]

Aaron Belz is the kind of poet who makes you want to have real-life friends who are poets. One minute he's arguing (in circles) with a Buddhist, and the next he's launching into a glossolalia-infused palindrome. But some of his best poems are the shortest ones: "The acronym / we're going to use / for Tuberculosis Day / is TBD."

[G.T. Anders]

Delish.

[Zach]

I like Aaron Belz even if I'm not always sure Aaron Belz likes Aaron Belz. He is funny without being satisfied with being funny. He is mopey but probably wouldn't admit that to a shrink. He is clever but wants more than that to be profound, which he is as well but I don't think he thinks he is profound ENOUGH. Maybe he's not good at being satisfied, or as a poet he is not good at writing about satisfaction, or he finds satisfaction to be a boring subject. Mostly, Aaron Belz is aware. You will have fun reading his poems (he can be both mopey and fun AT THE SAME TIME), and you might not even notice amid your superficial enjoyment the fact that you have encountered profundity (more than Aaron Belz might admit) along the way.

[Brian K]

Perhaps one surprising thing about this collection is that Belz subtitled it POEMS when I thought I was literally reading a bomb of glitter. Delightful but more confusing than LOVELY, RASPBERRY. Is that a problem? I'm not sure - standards are tricky things.

[Nichol Humphery]

he needs writing tools stripped from him

[Tim Vander Meulen]

Most of what I have to say about Aaron’s poetry is positive, though it may sound a little harsh. I won’t be quick to say that it’s good art, or even good poetry. But he does what he tries to do well. He strips traditional poetry from its embellished pedestal of flowers and skies and over-thinkers, and creates a clean slate. He takes clichés and cultural references and twists and bends them so that we second-guess ourselves. It’s funny, it’s disturbing, it’s great. That’s just the thing. His clean slate and farcical style wakes us up and pushes us in a new direction when thinking about art. So maybe this is good art. I thoroughly enjoy it! Read it.

[T.S. E]

Belz’s most recent effort is a carnival of bemusement. One feels as if they’re in the presence of some bland prophet, revealing to us (again) truths we’ve already grown tiered of. Belz sets his sights on grand themes and comes up just short enough to be unremarkable. Who is Belz writing this for? Surely not his readership, however limited they may be. In his better poems, Belz is nipping at the heels of mediocrity. If you’re looking for profundity, you would do well to lower your expectations. Belz’s self-loathing takes center stage, acting out its picaresque pantomime in tragic, lapsing cycles. Would not recommend if you're looking for a book of poems to take you to new places.

[Hal Bush]

I felt bombed with glitter after this very funny and sometimes moving set of unusual poems. Seriously funny, and just delightful... like all his other books. If you are looking for the somber, downcast, and often simply therapeutic poetry that dominates the business nowadays, look elsewehere. If you want some fun out of life, try this one...

[Lynn]

I picked this up at AWP after I heard Aaron Belz read. First, he is hilarious. He has perhaps the driest sense of humor. Ever. Many of the poems are laugh out loud funny. Some are just weird. But overall, I recommend it. If you like the funny.

[Timothy Nichols]

A wry, brilliant, enjoyable bit of business, with a very rough edge to it. I'll be looking for more poems by Aaron Belz.

[Courtney]

Some of these were funny, some were good, and many made no sense to me. I'm not really a poetry person though so ymmv.

[Jason Russo]

I didn't realize I liked poetry until I read Aaron Belz.

[Anne]

I can’t say I understood the book, but I can tell you it made me feel a lot of stuff.

[Colleen]

lent by Jessica
favorite poems - Robert Keyes, Arguing with a Buddhist, Either/Or, Your Objective, Hippie Slang

[Brooke Greenburg]

Loved it. "I wouldn't go so far as to say there's no such thing as trees."

[nate]

When I read Belz's poems I laugh and sometimes I slow down and say "Whoa." Sometimes I'm confused and don't know what he's talking about (and maybe he doesn't either?). Sometimes I think he's being a little mean. Whatever. There's a kind of joy that I get while reading his poems that I've never experienced from any other poet (an admittedly small pool). Belz brings it all and I'm here for it.