I enjoyed The Curiosities immensely and want to say something about one of its poems, “The Chocolate”, which you can read here.

Commenting on a poem like this really does feel like breaking a butterfly on a wheel.

I love the suave modulations of its tone, the skill with which Reid creates the voice of an imaginary speaker and the brilliantly sensitive way he suggests the surges and sudden ebbs in the speaker’s feelings and levels of confidence.

The speaker talks about developing an erotics of chocolate. That’s funny in itself, but only one part of the poem’s brilliantly comic microdrama. … Continue Reading