Are you someone who likes a bit of levity in their poems? If you are, this just might be the book for you. What started as a bonus chapter for the award-winning book Shitolian has been turned into a full collection of satirical poems by O Persaud with Writer's Block: A Book of Shitty Poems. With each poem containing references to the proverbial stuff excreted by humans, you may pass them off as a joke. However, that would be a mistake. Despite the light-hearted approach to the verses, Persaud's poems touch upon some relevant topics that manage to pop out of the pages. These include how bottling stuff inside just delays the inevitable (no pun intended), the repetitive redundancy of today's hectic life, dealing with difficult situations, embracing new challenges, making mistakes, the self-righteous preaching of hypocrites, and much more.

A hilarious collection of poems that truly made my day, Writer's Block is a book that I will gladly recommend. If you don't like to take yourself too seriously, this will be your jam. There is an underlying layer of meta-commentary behind O Persaud's seemingly pulpy verses that only adds depth to the satirical nature of the narrative. One of the poems sheds light on the ridiculous double standards people use while they judge each other based on the color of their skin. While every poem may feel stylistically similar, with post-modern elements in their structural organization, what makes them unique are the respective subject matters they delve into. I had a great time reading the book and think others will too.

Writer’s Block is a continuation of another book of poetry, Shitolian, by O Persaud. The author chose to extend them from an additional chapter in a previous book as they were so well received in his award-winning novel. The poems in Writer’s Block are introduced by Persaud as edgy and raw. The material in each poem is related to fecal matter, but not necessarily the physical kind, more like the metaphorical kind, like the stuff we keep buried or avoid. There was even a poem about the presents birds leave on cars, and I found it humorous, as it was written as a haiku. The poems are written in free form and lack punctuation or capitalization, but I felt they were better interpreted without additional structure as the ideas should be taken from the words and not from the technical form.

Sometimes, simple words or phrases convey O Persaud’s meaning and might be random to some individuals, but other readers will enjoy the simplicity of fewer words to convey a deeper meaning. At least one poem, “Under the Influence”, was penned as a longer poem that seemed like a one-sided conversation. The writing was fresh and free from any influence upon the writer. It could be seen as a refreshing change from pretty words meant to appeal to a certain market. Writer’s Block isn’t meant for zealous grammatists or immature readers. The ideas and language expressed in the pages are better for more experienced readers who embrace thoughts and feelings with an open mind.

With such classics as 'Here I sit... all broken hearted...' - audiences can only imagine where this is going. I give 5-stars for audacity.... but disagree that the author doesn't 'Give a $#!+!"