Caged Without Walls - A Review of Anthony J. Langford's Poetry Collection.

Caged without Walls is such an appropriate name for this collection of poetry. The poems invite the reader to escape from their fears.

Anthony J Langford writes poems about people who have doubts, and who make mistakes and have regrets. They poems are for people who question their existence and want to achieve something rather than just survive.

Langford writes about life as he sees it. His honest words create poems with a real  authenticity. But he’s not one to try and pull at the heart strings. He’s more concerned with getting readers to examine their lives.  

His writing should evoke a response from most readers. Few of his poems are written with obscure meanings that only the most determined re-reader might eventually find. His poems are like having a conversation with him about what is really going on in your lives.   

Most of the poems have at least a few stanzas or phrases that will cause a reader to pause and marvel at Anthony’s use of language. Here’s an example:

Right Here But Not Right Now.

Don’t lose track

If you were ever on it.

And now that you’ve questioned yourself

You start to wonder…

I had a plan

I thought I was on the right path

But now I’m not so sure.

It’s not that I’m not trying

I am

I’m a determined person (I’m determined).

Yet somehow

The edges are rough

The confidence is off-centre

Something doesn’t feel right.

And the future has never seemed

Certain

Yet now,

Never so uncertain…

I’ve got a problem

And I don’t know what it is.

I’d ask someone

Anyone

If I could trust them

Yet…

How Can I?

When I can’t trust myself.

I’d ask the right questions

If I knew any

I’m tired of guessing

I’m bloated with doubt

And I’ve never felt

So unsure

Of myself.

They think I’m green

When I’m only feeling blue

I sometimes speak in tongues

But I can’t understand a word

So why do they think they do?

Is it they who are lying?

Or am I not telling the truth?

When it’s all over

I’m sure I’ll have barely begun

And it’s back to the start

When I’ve already reached the end.

A few other poems from Caged Without Walls are on Anthony J Langford’s blog, as well as some of his other work including video poems. Nearly every week Anthony has a new poem published on the web or in print somewhere in the world. He has also written an excellent novella, Bottomless River.

Caged without walls is an immersive collection of poems that will have readers examining their live as they welcome the news that they are not alone in their doubts and regrets.