urban creatures

Martens' poems are in free verse, often surrealistic, told in the cadence of his "mennonite half-glass" past, hymns, and snippets of conversations he's had with people in bars, street corners, and while travelling abroad. His poetry is urgent and intimate - deeply human, richly emotive, and achingly expressive. These extraordinary poems will not only draw you in, but quietly transform you. He writes into the heart of complexity: identity, deprivation, ecology, aging, harmony - each theme delicately woven, each word carrying weight.