A simple concept brilliantly brought to publication. In fact it gives more purpose to re-reading this collection of poems which more than most poems reflect and inform us about the author. The things he likes and the way his mind works, like word association gone mad, as subjects and ideas prompt other thoughts, but all are grounded in his personal experience or ideas. The collection is a living breathing embodiment of Max himself and he has bared his sole and written an autobiography through his lines of poetry.
To call it Like is both a clever notion and a stupud one at the same time. Many write love poetry to all and those uplifting aspects of life; but you wouldn't call it love. Like is more practical and honest as it is what life is like, not rose tinted but real and realistic. However, a title of Like courts poor and thoughtless reviews. Not; hated it; #unlike and suchlike.
The positives outweigh the negatives and no-one reading these verses could not be moved and motivated to reflect; the more they read and returned to favourite pieces the more like will be the word. Not as we pass judgement on a friend's status on social media but as a base camp emotion on words and poems collected to reach out and say something to our own hearts and minds.
Poetry can and should elevate and move one; with a vocabulary that sings and lifts one spirit but when it is at it's simplest it draws one in, to you recognise your own humanity and mortality.

Contents:
At The Home For Homeless Poems has already received recognition - I loved it too for it's care and originality.
If you read it a second time your favourites may change but I would point up:
TV Dinner - "The bodies lying in neat, unlikely rows The lines of refugees."
New Dark Age - "Looking back, if they look back at all" I remember the excitement we felt Waiting for the next Fellini film" "And reading this, if they read at all" " Wondering what feeling excitement Must have been like."
It's Its Silence - "It's its silence that scares me And reminds me of my Mother" "And there was no scream" "It's its silence that scares me Like the last rose of summer."
It Breaks My Heart - "It breaks my heart to see my wife grow old Those lips I kissed, that waist I liked to hold."
Back In The Good Old Days - "The trouble is we no longer know how To make the simplest things Things like a good eraser," "Those who cannot erase, cannot rewrite Those who cannot rewrite, cannot create Those who cannot create, will be erased."
Apres Moi, Le Deluge - " One of the greatest pleasures in this old man's Life is watching the rain"
"Friends and people much younger than myself Dropping like the rain all around me, dropping Like flies" "I see a flash of lightening and count the seconds Before the thunder comes shaking the world like One of those Gods I wish I could believe in."

A warm recommendation for Like, poems that will re-connect you with, what poetry at it's best, does so well.

Unfortunately, only one poem was downloaded from this collection. Though I loved it, it is not enough for me to either review or recommend it,

This poetry collection was not exactly what I was expecting when I went in. Admittedly, I think that this was one of those works that went over my head to some extent. Each of these poems contain the word “like”, used in both similes as well as opinions on parts of life. I thought this was a really intriguing and unique idea for a collection, and Layton did a solid job building it. I really liked his writing style and found it easy to get caught up in.

I absolutely loved some of the poems, but then others didn’t hit me in quite the same way. One of the main types I particularly enjoyed were the more personal poems, particularly those about his mother and her art. But—and this may be just me—I couldn’t always tell exactly how he was using the word “like” to construct his poems. Though that wasn’t always completely clear to me, this was still a solid collection and an enjoyable read.

“Like” is a slim volume of about 50 poems by Canadian poet and musician Max Layton. The cover of the book is gorgeously original featuring an overweight man with neon green eyes and flaming red hair. “To Sing Another Villanelle” was the only poem listed. Unfortunately, the book would not download on Kindle or a PDF file, so it isn’t possible to review this.

Max Layton (1946-) is the son of the famous Canadian poet Irving Layton (1912-2006). It was interesting to read about Max’s bio and listen to clips of his folk style music where he sings and plays guitar. “Like” will be released by Toronto based Guernica Editions on March 1st 2018.