Shaken by Physics: Poems

Intrigued by the title, I leafed through "Shaken by Physics" immediately on finding it. It looked interesting enough, but my real decision to buy it rested on the fact that there are few poetic works about Physics. It never occurred to me that physics would inspire creativity toward this art.From the start, and sustained throughout, my feeling was that the author had once been a college Physics major who became discouraged. The reasons why -- because of being overwhelmed or underwhelmed, or for some other reason, is elusive. Fear of Physics is what seems to have grown out of whatever did happen. The author attempts to make the leap from the universal to the mundane, but I've never seen this done successfully; either one or the other must be neglected. Although insightful in many ways, the anthropomorphisms imposed on the various fields in "Dissonnets" make the poet's paths hard to follow.It seemed that some of the material would be better suited to another topical book. Overall, I enjoyed Mr. MacKenzie's work very much. As if to affirm his sincerity, his poetry flows more smoothly than that of most modern artists. This is true even with the harsh writings in "This is About Hope". But I do wonder at this opening chapter, which it certainly not about Hope: These poems are dismal. Wonderful, yes, but definitely dismal.Those poems which convey how a physicist's mind could warp one's view of the 'ordinary' were especially fascinating: My favorite is the last of the "Black Feather Poems".I recommend the carefully and purposely categorized content of "Shaken By Physics" to anyone who appreciates good poetry. Knowledge of physics is definitely not a prerequisite to enjoyment. I will be on the lookout for future works by John MacKenzie.