On The Table Read Magazine, “the best entertainment eBook magazine UK“, Piano Keys Out Of Breath by Kane Benjamin Crookes weaves haunting Gothic imagery and supernatural lyricism through innovative free verse and haiku, inviting readers into a vivid, moonlit world of love, loss, and desire.
Piano Keys Out Of Breath
In Piano Keys out of Breath, Kane Benjamin Crookes unveils a hauntingly beautiful collection of Gothic poetry that builds on the foundations of his debut, Blooming Us. Through a masterful blend of free verse and innovative haiku, Crookes crafts a world where moonlight, memory, and the supernatural intertwine, inviting readers into a visceral and surreal exploration of nature, love, loss, death, and desire. This collection, rich with evocative imagery and seasonal stillness, showcases an evolved poetic voice that transforms language into shadow and shape, where brevity amplifies emotional resonance.
Crookes’ poetry is not merely a reflection on its themes but an immersive sensory experience. His work challenges readers to engage with poems both visually and emotionally, as words paint vivid, otherworldly landscapes. The moon, a recurring motif inspired by poet Richard Adlington, is reimagined in absurd and inventive ways, defying the Imagist principles of F.S. Flint, who cautioned against “inventing” the moon. Crookes embraces this reinvention, making the celestial body a canvas for myth and imagination. A palm tree, encountered during his travels in Greece, becomes a “giant claw” gnawing at the seams of his collar—an image that exemplifies the collection’s ability to twist nature into the supernatural.
Unlike Blooming Us, where Crookes adhered to traditional haiku forms, Piano Keys out of Breath experiments with structure, such as extending haiku to five lines to build toward striking images like a red bough. This evolution reflects his deepening engagement with Gothic themes, creating a more surreal and immersive experience. The collection’s ethos of “less is more” allows Crookes’ verse to shine, with sparse yet powerful language that captures the strange and otherworldly.
The collection also features contributions from emerging poets Elisha Singh, Megan Hall, and Chanel Ricketts, whose opening poems add fresh voices to the Gothic tapestry. Additionally, Crookes incorporates haiku inspired by Ava’s evocative photography, complemented by her doodles, which enhance the visual allure of the work. The collection concludes with a poignant three-line passage by Lina, encapsulating the complexities of contemporary love with striking brevity.
Piano Keys out of Breath is a testament to Crookes’ growth as a poet, blending haunting lyricism with bold experimentation. By welcoming the supernatural and reimagining the natural world, this collection invites readers to linger in its moonlit shadows, where every word resonates with quiet, profound power.
Kane Benjamin Crookes
The poems selected for the collection are organised in chronological order, for I aim to show my readers my thought processes in the most precise way. Most tell of the colder months – September, October, November and December – which is because I set myself a challenge to write as many as possible during this period. Travelling to places such as Greece, though, was important to unpack the supernatural with a palm tree. Indeed, it did seem to gnaw – with its giant claw – at the seams of my collar. You will find this poem in the collection.
Aside from the excessive use of nature, there are also many poems that tell of the moon. I think this stems from a childlike connection I have towards it, which I feel comes from when I used to watch it follow me from the car window, out of which the playful body hung like a tapestry. The moon I’ve found is also important for the development of the Image, due to the level of abstraction from which you can somewhat cut.
At nineteen years old, I put forward an entry to a writing competition – or the 2023 Poetry Prize – organised by Manchester Writing School. Since then, I have released two collections, ‘Blooming Us’ and ‘Piano Keys out of Breath’, both of which touch upon similar themes. The choice to make a book came from a neurodivergent hyper-fixation. Of course, this has made me promise to my readers that I shall have a fruitful literary future.
Born on 25th April 2004, in Sheffield, United Kingdom, I can find much poetic joy in the Peak District, with nature being one of my key themes. This year, I have managed to gain an audience at Wave of Nostalgia Bookshop, to whom I will be reading excerpts from my first book. I will also begin my MA degree in Creative Writing at Durham University.
–Kane Benjamin Crookes
Find more from Kane Benjamin Crookes now:
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