Jason and the Golden Thesis

Jason and the Golden Thesis is as the pun suggests largely post-modern and therefore naturally its poetic imagery tends to be somewhat tongue in cheek, however, for those critics fighting on the front lines, no firing squad yet, please. There are moments of modernity that dominate the metaphors framed in many of the poems, as in the wonderfully melodic A & E which effortlessly glides between free verse, subtle usage of alliteration, near rhyme and true rhyme whilst seamlessly gluing together imagery from Math, Theology, Pop media and Biology.

In fact JMD’s use of metaphor throughout the entire selection employs an unusual gamut: religious symbols, political icons, brand names, pop culture references, the sciences and both typical and atypical poetic imagery in almost the same breath. Each poem attempts to posit a frame of reference from which the poet claims a vantage freed from the distinguishing features of the “little” picture, or pictures, as it may be. These poems are iterations on a theme of experimentation that at times are as grossly disfigured as the monstrous rejects in The Fly II or Alien Resurrection, depending on how recently you were born. Each individual reader will happily rescue their own unique pantheon of mythic beasts from this “wild zoo”, and just as swiftly flame-throw the over-hopeful, slathering remainder.

Again, as with his first poetry book, there is a minimalist tendency, though there are more poems brimming with fuller language, and at times a wilful show of working. The overall impression is of a dramatic expansion in stylistic growth, and though this also necessitates instances of highly fallible poetry, not to mention the temporary mental instability of youthful exuberance which we have all been guilty of, Jason and the Golden Thesis is ultimately a grab bag of outlandishly precious jewels that will take as much courage to steal as it was to fashion them for just that purpose.