Pricking Balloons by James C. MacDonald

A mournful and musing collection of poetry in every form, Pricking Balloons by James C. MacDonald is both existential and immediate, dissecting a myriad of events, ideas, and feelings through his unique lens.

Divided into four sections titled with names of cities, some poems do feel tied to locations, but many others are biblical, philosophical, familial, and nonspecific. The New Orleans pieces feel like poetic questions, touching on sacred words and secret messages, ideals, and beliefs, but there are also intimate snapshot poems of tragedy and change, such as “The Little Girl in the Canal Street Mall” and “Crescent City Carnage.”

The Las Vegas section is more playful, both in form and subject, wrestling with boredom, dreams, chaos, and varied appetites. The final New Orleans section is darker, and more personally abstract, but makes for a powerful close: “But sight when lost to astral dark / Makes lurid dreams that much more stark.”

The wide range of poetic form and meter that the poet employs keeps the collection dynamic and easy to read, though there are some weak points, including the occasional haikus, along with certain instances of slant rhyme, inconsistent meter, and restructured syntax that strains understanding. That said, most of the poems are free verse, relying on clever imagery and poignant commentary for their impact, and the poems are curated and ordered well, with smaller thematic rhythms throughout each section.

All in all, this intimate and thought-provoking collection leaves readers with a sense of longing, reverence and, ultimately, hope.