The page numbers are off. Very first thing I noticed. Open the cover, blank page, front matter, copyright, bastard title, preliminaries, index...pure chaos. 88 pages, but 6 of them don't get a name. Makes the reader wonder what else in this binding is left untitled.
As a matter of holding something in your hand, the book itself is fine. The cover has a wax-like feel. Wax for the poetry...hmm. Glue binding holds this collection well under an inch thick, but that's alright. The cover itself pulls; what I don't know. The cover itself is a depiction of a shuck'd oyster. I believe, with great certainty, that the author Mr. Mutt is trying to make a statement that the book, Pocket Knife, is the shuck to find your own damn pearl because I ain't seeing it on the artwork. Did the author put it inside the pages because I ain't opening this smut.
Or maybe there just wasn't a pearl to begin with. Maybe I am the pearl.
Dr. Mutt gave a subtitle of Jokes I Told The Earth but this ain't funny. I worry the author has that antiquated definition of 'comedy'.
When I turn to the index, I can't help but love the unevenness of the type weight. A not-so-subtle wave giving the ghost of a screen-printed sea. The Zoroaster reference jumps to me so I jump straight to page 15; however, I quickly realize I am unacquainted with some of the characters mentioned, so a trip from The man calling himself zarathustra to Slightliness behold welcomes me with a lovely graphic of something. It's blue. And so are my feelings once I hit my first unfamiliar word. I don't know what 'Matryoshka' means, and I might need to, but today isn't that day.
I made it through the first poem, closed the book, and worked the binding through my fingers. Here I am realizing I have no idea how to read poetry. The book feels good in hand but puts gentle pressure around my neck once opened. Will I find out who is the man calling himself Zarathushtra? Could it be the man himself because sometimes I call myself Ape but I just might be one. I was told some instruction if I ever came across someone calling themselves The Buddha?
I thumb to page 6 and make it a couple more pages. Why does Senator Mutt have such a bleak outlook on painters? I swear, I swear I constantly hear that living life is somehow the antithesis of living life.
It was on page 26 once did I realize the author doesn't smoke...but wants to.
It was on page 41 once did I realize the author doesn't have a motorcycle...but wants one.
...or maybe it's me who wants these things? I am, after all, still without my pearl.
By the end of the book I wonder if knowing the author would help in some way. I believe this is a pen-name so probably not. There are many words I don't know. When the revolution ends was especially delightful if I do say so. The book still feels good in-hand. I didn't read between the lines. I don't know if an asterisk is some notation on pacing. Do I release the sustain pedal?
-Ape, 2026.03.07