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Cicadas Serenade
Cicadas Serenade is a poetry collection of unparalleled suffering and beauty. Strong themes, such as dysphoria and sin are explored alongside transcendental and romantic notions. Throughout this collection, the limits of form are pushed in tandem with the sanity of the poet. If you are a student of poetry, this collection is a must have.
- GenresPoetry
145 pages, Kindle Edition
Published December 12, 2021
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157 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 36 reviews
May 17, 2022
Cicadas Serenade is an excellent written poem book with topics involving life and things beyond it. The author expresses strong negative emotions very vividly and descriptively. Page 10, "I've clogged my tears from coming out, I never really grieve this overflowing emotion for all of those who leave the traffic in my mind keeps blaring horns of my nots my poems serve as puddles for collecting all my thoughts." Anotnio Eramo's poem is filled with many thoughts be it of love or of resentment to people or to the world. Page 65 "encased in glass we protect art from dust the thing we become" "we live life in drought and yet connections outlive the giver." Us as humans want to only conserve the things that is visually pleasing and never actually care for the things that give us resources. Cicada's Serenade is a mix of things and is worth a read, especially the descriptive language in each page.
July 16, 2022
Read these poems out loud, and it feels like the Fourth of July is transpiring in your mouth; the verses pop and ignite images and ideas and the essence of things that are on the tip of your eyebrow, but not always in focus, but the ride! Oh the ride is always a worthwhile adventure. I love his work and follow the poet Eramo on facebook for a daily dose of wordly art and mental calisthenics that range from fun to profound but mostly profound. So happy to find this treasure.
July 19, 2022
A Masterwork Of Poetic Brilliance
Antonio Eramo is an unparalleled artist with an incredible poetic prowess. Cicadas Serenade is a perfect marriage of artistic acumen, thoughtful philosophical sagacity and a depth of expressive emotion, palpably communicated to the audience. This collection delves, reflects and elucidates on the full breadth of the human experience. Cicadas Serenade is detailed and honed, every word is meticulously chosen, crafted with intelligence, wit and depth of artistic intent. Not only a collection of brilliant poetic art but a learning example of poetic device, form and an ideal for striving for the highest of standards. You cannot help but be elevated by the experience of reading this masterwork. The Poetry Kingdom highly recommends Cicadas Serenade by Antonio Eramo. Get yourself a copy today.
Antonio Eramo is an unparalleled artist with an incredible poetic prowess. Cicadas Serenade is a perfect marriage of artistic acumen, thoughtful philosophical sagacity and a depth of expressive emotion, palpably communicated to the audience. This collection delves, reflects and elucidates on the full breadth of the human experience. Cicadas Serenade is detailed and honed, every word is meticulously chosen, crafted with intelligence, wit and depth of artistic intent. Not only a collection of brilliant poetic art but a learning example of poetic device, form and an ideal for striving for the highest of standards. You cannot help but be elevated by the experience of reading this masterwork. The Poetry Kingdom highly recommends Cicadas Serenade by Antonio Eramo. Get yourself a copy today.
September 23, 2022
No spoilers, the book is simply outstanding. Antonio brings the elegant elements to poetry that I fell in love with as a girl. His familiar words echo some of my favorite, great writers. Holding the book in my hands filled me with anticipation, being a fan of his work. I am happy to see that Cicadas is rated number 1 in Amazon. Congratulations to you Antonio Eramo. Anxious to read your new book.
January 9, 2023
Poetry is tough for me to really form a connection with anyway but this just seemed like the author was pretentious and angry until you get to the LAST PAGE where he begs for a positive review. Hard pass. This gets two stars ONLY because there was one passage that spoke to me deeply. It's a quick read and most of the cadences are nice and it checked off a "one-day-read" on my 2023 challenge list. Try it if you will. Wasn't my taste.
May 30, 2022
Sadly this just wasn't for me. There are a few great poems in this collection but I really didn't like the writing style. I guess I'm just used to the poetic format of more spoken word poetry so this type of rhyming poetry just didn't click with me. It often felt like the poem was written around the words that rhymed instead of telling a story.
January 2, 2023
Such beautiful word play. This feels like falling into a love you know is doomed to end. This is a masterpiece without the paint.
August 6, 2022
Easily one of the best contemporary poets I’ve read recently. Solid poetry from cover to cover. Here are a few of my favorites:
Atom and Eve (20)
Bedlamb (73)
Imaginary (115)
Gold Leaves (Gilt) (137)
Rhapsody I (139)
Excerpt from Atom and Eve (2):
for [He] who changes voice to reach high pitch
shall [O] the trees for the air he didn’t take
in [Au] of other love we see as rich
whose elemental bonds we cannot break
Excerpt from Imaginary (73):
while solving for X we never asked why
the number of the beast; lowercase i
Atom and Eve (20)
Bedlamb (73)
Imaginary (115)
Gold Leaves (Gilt) (137)
Rhapsody I (139)
Excerpt from Atom and Eve (2):
for [He] who changes voice to reach high pitch
shall [O] the trees for the air he didn’t take
in [Au] of other love we see as rich
whose elemental bonds we cannot break
Excerpt from Imaginary (73):
while solving for X we never asked why
the number of the beast; lowercase i
February 7, 2024
I'm going to be generous and give this a three.
Was it prettily written? Yes.
But it was so prettily written that it was almost...difficult to get through. There were so many twisted images and metaphors that it was easy to get lost in the poems and find myself wanting to skim.
As one of my professors once said, "You have to know how to write a poem people want to read." And this was full of pretty purple prose poems, but not poems that linger with you and make you want to read and reread.
Don't be fooled by the lovely cover.
Was it prettily written? Yes.
But it was so prettily written that it was almost...difficult to get through. There were so many twisted images and metaphors that it was easy to get lost in the poems and find myself wanting to skim.
As one of my professors once said, "You have to know how to write a poem people want to read." And this was full of pretty purple prose poems, but not poems that linger with you and make you want to read and reread.
Don't be fooled by the lovely cover.
September 9, 2022
'and fires can be fed with books, yet everyone still reads'
This is one book that won't be getting burnt by me!! A nicely layered, interesting collection of poetry. Even the line quoted has no many connotations. The poems are jam packed with word play, intensity, humour and a dry intelligence. I would recommend this hugely. I also feel it will be reread multiple times leading the dance of poet and poems. Fascinating and well written pieces herein lie.
This is one book that won't be getting burnt by me!! A nicely layered, interesting collection of poetry. Even the line quoted has no many connotations. The poems are jam packed with word play, intensity, humour and a dry intelligence. I would recommend this hugely. I also feel it will be reread multiple times leading the dance of poet and poems. Fascinating and well written pieces herein lie.
July 18, 2022
This book is a work of art. I am really amazed by the play of words immersed on this book. It takes time to take it all in but it's worth the time spent. I would recommend 100% even for non-English speakers like myself , this will surely help you understand how English language works in all its simple and complex ways.
October 5, 2022
This is a superb collection of poetry by the premiere contemporary poet, Antonio Eramo. This eclectic assemblage includes a wide range of forms; many of which will stimulate and challenge your comfortable mindset. I recommend this book.
November 30, 2022
There poets, and then there is Antonio Eramo.
A master of his craft, he yet again captures the imagination with his talent; his immaculate wording, style and form captures the eye, and sooths the eye with his wordsmithing prowess.
A must read!
A master of his craft, he yet again captures the imagination with his talent; his immaculate wording, style and form captures the eye, and sooths the eye with his wordsmithing prowess.
A must read!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 29, 2023
The author seems to care about poetry, has good rhyme and imagery. He insults the reader in a footnote of one poem which seemed an odd choice. None resonated with me and after a while, the book got a bit boring.
August 20, 2022
Lovely
October 5, 2022
Excellent poetry! A must read!
October 27, 2022
you gotta read it
Loved it. Love how these can easily turn into songs. I’m gonna need a metalcore band to sing these poems. Maybe Silent Planet could do these poems justice.
Loved it. Love how these can easily turn into songs. I’m gonna need a metalcore band to sing these poems. Maybe Silent Planet could do these poems justice.
May 19, 2023
eh no
Not for me, maybe for somebody. A few were nice most had annoying rhyme. I prefer anything but this species of poetry.
Not for me, maybe for somebody. A few were nice most had annoying rhyme. I prefer anything but this species of poetry.
September 3, 2023
Cicadas Serenade by Antonio Eramo is a wonderful work of poetry. A lot of these poems spoke to me, from poems about life to relationships and intimacy.
Eramo has a way with words, so I really enjoyed seeing the metaphors they used within their writing. I loved the play on words in poems like “Bucket”, which had multiple meanings when I read them.
My biggest critique would be that I wish the poems were displayed upon the space of the page in different ways. Most poems were centered on the left hand margin of the page, playing with spacing or indentation at times. I noticed some different italics or boldened words/letters. However, I wish there was a lot more play with the page itself and punctuation, etc.
Otherwise, I enjoyed this book!
Eramo has a way with words, so I really enjoyed seeing the metaphors they used within their writing. I loved the play on words in poems like “Bucket”, which had multiple meanings when I read them.
My biggest critique would be that I wish the poems were displayed upon the space of the page in different ways. Most poems were centered on the left hand margin of the page, playing with spacing or indentation at times. I noticed some different italics or boldened words/letters. However, I wish there was a lot more play with the page itself and punctuation, etc.
Otherwise, I enjoyed this book!
September 22, 2024
Trigger warning: rape
The author knows how to string words together in a way that sounds nice and poetic, but that’s where the good aspects of this book end
Most of the lines have no meaning, even upon closer literary inspection (and I majored in English). They’re just random words stringed together in a way that you think they *might* mean something.
Beyond that, the author is incredibly crass. In the poem titled “Ecce Homophone” the opening lines are:
“I’m king of con
hard R in ape”
After this bold declaration, basically declaring themselves all the most offensive parts of rape (pulling on connotations of the hard R in the n-word) they continue to spew nonsense, some of which has sexual connotations, they don’t address or condemn anything about sexual assault, they just let their statement stand.
To use the author’s own words, this book is “a treasure trove of damning drivel”
The author knows how to string words together in a way that sounds nice and poetic, but that’s where the good aspects of this book end
Most of the lines have no meaning, even upon closer literary inspection (and I majored in English). They’re just random words stringed together in a way that you think they *might* mean something.
Beyond that, the author is incredibly crass. In the poem titled “Ecce Homophone” the opening lines are:
“I’m king of con
hard R in ape”
After this bold declaration, basically declaring themselves all the most offensive parts of rape (pulling on connotations of the hard R in the n-word) they continue to spew nonsense, some of which has sexual connotations, they don’t address or condemn anything about sexual assault, they just let their statement stand.
To use the author’s own words, this book is “a treasure trove of damning drivel”
Read
August 26, 2022Cicada's symphony.. no but the cicada's everything the board donates to our musical ears, brains, and tongues,
The poetry is on a new level of tone amazement, and contradiction to obscure clarity into mysterious bizarre artistic beauty,
The use of rhyming and the clever alliterations leaves you with a wow that is continuous through the lines, verses, stanzas ..
With creative terrific titles that hold your breath until you complete the poem,
Oh! And there is a poem about fickle fame!
Which gets reminiscent about the great work of Fame is fickle food by you know who ..
I enjoyed the reading and I have a dozen of pages to discover yet!
The poetry is on a new level of tone amazement, and contradiction to obscure clarity into mysterious bizarre artistic beauty,
The use of rhyming and the clever alliterations leaves you with a wow that is continuous through the lines, verses, stanzas ..
With creative terrific titles that hold your breath until you complete the poem,
Oh! And there is a poem about fickle fame!
Which gets reminiscent about the great work of Fame is fickle food by you know who ..
I enjoyed the reading and I have a dozen of pages to discover yet!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 21, 2023
In the world of poetry, whether here in Goodreads, in a library or a bookstore you’ll discover a range of verse from the amateur to the scholarly. Antonio Eramo’s poetry epitomizes the creme of the scholarly.
His verse (and voice) is not to be casually read since the substantial meat of each piece requires the reader’s full attention. His words may challenge, delight or intimidate the reader. The poet covers controversy (“We live in a generation petrified into believing the genocide of our liberties is the only path to a prosperous tomorrow. Yet it is not the harsh rhetoric of a slamming fist that insists we genuflect. Instead, it is the open palm of the ever-calm beggar that robs us blind. Cloaked in the falsehoods of altruism, the ayes pocket our sympathetic aesthetic.) from Our Brothers Keeper, remembrance (“I will remember the place though I might forget the way on that windy autumn day when sun warmed my face, heart started to race as minds ran astray lost in our grace…. never to stay flowers sway; lovers chase misplace all gray lay… trace remember the place”) from Flowers Sway; Lovers Chase and fear (“My greatest fear is that I write something so clear that no one says anything at all. I simply drift away like a leaf in the fall and wait for the snow to absorb the sound of the call I never got beneath the white of crystalline thought I rot irate in all I wrote.”) from My Greatest Fear among various topics.
As can consequentially be observed the poetry within Cicadas Serenade challenges the reader to think, to realize the innate poetry in everyday speech, to break convention (no four line verse, free or rhymed) and to create carefully crafted word play through imagery. This book exemplifies the rarified air of poetry present only near the summit of sublimity.
I highly recommend it.
His verse (and voice) is not to be casually read since the substantial meat of each piece requires the reader’s full attention. His words may challenge, delight or intimidate the reader. The poet covers controversy (“We live in a generation petrified into believing the genocide of our liberties is the only path to a prosperous tomorrow. Yet it is not the harsh rhetoric of a slamming fist that insists we genuflect. Instead, it is the open palm of the ever-calm beggar that robs us blind. Cloaked in the falsehoods of altruism, the ayes pocket our sympathetic aesthetic.) from Our Brothers Keeper, remembrance (“I will remember the place though I might forget the way on that windy autumn day when sun warmed my face, heart started to race as minds ran astray lost in our grace…. never to stay flowers sway; lovers chase misplace all gray lay… trace remember the place”) from Flowers Sway; Lovers Chase and fear (“My greatest fear is that I write something so clear that no one says anything at all. I simply drift away like a leaf in the fall and wait for the snow to absorb the sound of the call I never got beneath the white of crystalline thought I rot irate in all I wrote.”) from My Greatest Fear among various topics.
As can consequentially be observed the poetry within Cicadas Serenade challenges the reader to think, to realize the innate poetry in everyday speech, to break convention (no four line verse, free or rhymed) and to create carefully crafted word play through imagery. This book exemplifies the rarified air of poetry present only near the summit of sublimity.
I highly recommend it.
March 31, 2025
Not my cup of tea
Everyone has their own writing styles, but I will say, this type of writing is not my cup of tea. I feel like the author focused mostly on trying to rhyme and it just simply lost me. I also feel like there was an overzealous attempt at wordplay here and it confused me to the point that I had no way of interpreting the poem.
I did highlight some of my favorite parts though:
“but there are those that question art and lose their frame of mind no colors can be virtuous if half the world is blind”
“you’re born from sin and here’s our theory if you’re white you auto-win all other races have grown weary”
“We do not choose what cuts us we can only pick our scabs”
Again, poetry is art and it is very subjective but I just could not get into this type of poem writing….it just left me feeling unsatisfied and underwhelmed.
I initially was going to give this book more stars but this part under the Rhapsody I poem… 🤦🏻♀️
“Footnote: …because you (the reader) are too fucking dumb to figure out anything unless it’s explained to the point where beauty is lost…
“Rhapsody I” is an anagram for dysphoria and “mania” is an anagram for “anima”
…like wtf…
Everyone has their own writing styles, but I will say, this type of writing is not my cup of tea. I feel like the author focused mostly on trying to rhyme and it just simply lost me. I also feel like there was an overzealous attempt at wordplay here and it confused me to the point that I had no way of interpreting the poem.
I did highlight some of my favorite parts though:
“but there are those that question art and lose their frame of mind no colors can be virtuous if half the world is blind”
“you’re born from sin and here’s our theory if you’re white you auto-win all other races have grown weary”
“We do not choose what cuts us we can only pick our scabs”
Again, poetry is art and it is very subjective but I just could not get into this type of poem writing….it just left me feeling unsatisfied and underwhelmed.
I initially was going to give this book more stars but this part under the Rhapsody I poem… 🤦🏻♀️
“Footnote: …because you (the reader) are too fucking dumb to figure out anything unless it’s explained to the point where beauty is lost…
“Rhapsody I” is an anagram for dysphoria and “mania” is an anagram for “anima”
…like wtf…
September 8, 2023
A poetic journey that takes readers on a rollercoaster of emotions and themes. Eramo's collection effortlessly blends classic and modern poetry forms with free verse, showcasing his versatility as a poet. The range of topics explored in this book is both daring and thought-provoking, from political commentary to intimate explorations of human desire.
What sets this collection apart is the author/poet's unapologetic approach to expressing unpopular beliefs. He fearlessly challenges the reader, provoking deep reflection and discussion. Cicadas Serenade is a must-read for anyone looking to be both enchanted and challenged by contemporary poetry that pushes boundaries and invites contemplation.
What sets this collection apart is the author/poet's unapologetic approach to expressing unpopular beliefs. He fearlessly challenges the reader, provoking deep reflection and discussion. Cicadas Serenade is a must-read for anyone looking to be both enchanted and challenged by contemporary poetry that pushes boundaries and invites contemplation.
September 7, 2023
Looking for poetry that doesn't hold back? Cicadas Serenade by Antonio Eramo is a poetic adventure you won't want to miss. With a fearless voice that tackles everything from politics to passion, this collection is a refreshing breath of honesty.
Eramo's words are like a wake-up call, unafraid to express unpopular opinions and make you think. If you're tired of the same old poetry and want something that will jolt your senses and spark conversations, dive into Cicadas Serenade. It's a poetic journey that will leave you both enchanted and challenged, making it a must-read for anyone craving poetry with a punch.
Eramo's words are like a wake-up call, unafraid to express unpopular opinions and make you think. If you're tired of the same old poetry and want something that will jolt your senses and spark conversations, dive into Cicadas Serenade. It's a poetic journey that will leave you both enchanted and challenged, making it a must-read for anyone craving poetry with a punch.
September 23, 2024
"Cicadas Serenade" by Antonio Eramo is a striking poetry collection that courageously navigates controversial topics with a masterful blend of wit and wordplay. Eramo's sharp intellect shines through as he tackles complex themes such as identity, societal norms, and the human experience. His clever use of language invites readers to engage with difficult subjects in a refreshing and thought-provoking manner. The collection balances humor and poignancy, making it both entertaining and deeply reflective. Eramo’s skillful craftsmanship ensures that each poem resonates long after reading, solidifying "Cicadas Serenade" as a powerful contribution to contemporary poetry.
September 22, 2024
this is my new favorite collection of poetry. I love all the word play! It takes a little bit to understand each piece, but it definitely has layers that are worth the time. I will also add that this collection isn't for the feint of heart...lots of controversial topics...but isn't that what poetry is supposed to be about?
May 20, 2023
Antonio Eramo is a master class poet. I'm not sure how it's possible for a writer to create such thought-provoking beauty that is strict to poetic form, but Eramo achieves it. Gorgeous read, sometimes controversial, but it keeps one intrigued.
October 1, 2024
definitely stands out in comparison to most modern poetry collections. although there were a couple free verse pieces, most were formed poems. If you like rhyme then you will like this collection...if you don't then you won't lol. The word play is very experimental and fun so I really enjoyed it.
October 3, 2024
evocative poetry with a fair bit of angst. the collection is unapologetic in its approach and really holds nothing back. I liked all the attention to detail and the intricate way the poems were crafted...even though I didn't agree with half of the authors stances or opinions
Displaying 1 - 30 of 36 reviews