Thank you Netgalley for letting me read and review this book. I enjoyed this poetry book somewhat. However, some of the poems were a little basic and boring. Some of the poems were really interesting though. It talks about his experiences in life, especially with nature and different big questions in life.

I read this at a time I wasn't able to read much and couldn't read this consistently, but the writing is bloody gorgeous and I loved this collection of poems. It felt visceral in its depiction of the wild, and mostly all the poems were beautiful and profound.

Poetry is ultimately a very subjective medium, and this was simply not to my taste. As a whole, the collection feels personal to the point of being inaccessible, relying on references to people, locations, and events without the context to understand them. There were occasional flashes of brilliance, with a phrase or two standing out, but ultimately the lack of rhythm and the absence of quality line autonomy made it difficult for me to enjoy many of the poems.

Wonderful poems.

Very good reads. This is an anthology of poetry covering different topics. Highly recommend it.

Although this was a difficult collection of poetry for me to get through, I still found moments of wisdom and beauty interspersed throughout. In particular:

"...The River teaches
that all things
are the source
of all things,
each of the other
and of itself..."

It's my opinion that reading is a very personal experience, and if one can't find a way to connect to what's written, then the work will fall flat - despite the writer's skill. This can become all the more obvious with a poetry collection, that in some ways is a collection of numerous flash fiction/non-fiction pieces.

Overall, a respectable collection that I hope will continue to reach the right readers over time. Thank you, Mike Bond for sharing your talent and to Big City Press and NetGalley for this ARC.

I absolutely loved this poetry collection. It was something about the writing style, topics and language that made me really enjoy it, especially when it was references to nature.

Some beautiful imagery here, while some of the poems were absolutely incredible. A lot of them kind of fell flat, I did get a sense of the west reading this, Reminding me of mountains, different people and a weird sense of nostalgia,

Good read, not awful in any sense.

Beautiful imagery, loved several poems. I would recommend it if you like nature, spirituality and other cultures. However, I couldn't get myself to have the drive to finish the book.

I had never read anything of this author and when I saw the synopsis in Netgalley I thought I could not miss the opportunity to read this work. Thank you Netgalley and Big City Press for the opportunity to read this book.

This is a short book (128 pages long), but with a great variety of poems in its most diverse forms, rhymes and sizes.

I noticed that the author has a great connection with nature, but I did not feel particularly connected to the writing of the poems.

Although I had not connected to the poems in general, I really enjoyed the poem "Paradise Ducks" that I leave next:

"Paradise ducks don't know
about men and steel.
In rainforest rivers
they love
and raise their young,
always paired, the dark multicolored male
and white-necked female.

Paradise ducks so easily fly,
don't know about airplanes
carrying men halfway
round the world,
shotguns in their baggage,
men who shoot thousands of ducks
for fun,
who have shot ducks in Brazil,
Mongolia, Canada, and now
in the far south
of the South Island
of New Zealand.

Paradise ducks mate for life.
Men don't.
A duck never kills.
Men do.

Ducks love misty dawns
that men sleep though,
flashing rivers and skies
blue as the gun barrels
that the men who love
to kill ducks
look down
before they fire."


This was the poem that struck me the most because it made me reflect on how human beings are killing beings so pure. We should be like these ducks who enjoy life, but no ... we kill for fun ... Is this what we call living?

This book has made me reflect on these and many issues related to our lack of respect and abuse of power over nature and for sure that the drum beating within me has become much more aware and alert to these violence issues that occur in our precious nature.

I would recommend this book to all nature lovers who feel that it is enough to let Mother Nature suffer the way she is suffers in the hands of the human being.

I found that I didn't particularly connect with any of these poems, and I didn't find any of the imagery particularly groundbreaking and inspiring. I think Bond could have played with their enjambments a little more to create some more surprise and tension within each poem. There were a fair few familiar ideas and images throughout and I wasn't a fan of all of the end rhyme.

I'm particularly fussy about the poetry I love though, so don't let this deter you from reading the collection.

This beautiful book of poetry opens with a prose article on the art, stylistic qualities and value of poetry itself, which is a welcome and apt introduction. It also yields delightful gems of observation, including: "poetry is not an intellectual game to be decoded, but an intense perception of the sacred mystery and beauty of life."

In this eclectic collection, with varying styles and length, some of which appealed more to me than others, I particularly enjoyed poems which explore aspects of the natural world, and the tenderly descriptive love poetry as well.

The author's major strength lies in his powers of observation and stunning depiction of the world around us. I appreciate the way he reveres the previously untouched created world, references history and context, and considers how mankind tends to alter the landscape to suit himself.

Michael Bond is a gifted and articulate poet. He more than lives up to these lines from To The Poets Among Us:

"If I were a poet I would/ watch the animals, respect the grace with which/ they execute their knowledge./ I would listen to the wind/ and learn the wisdom/ of silence. Touch the earth, come together with the grass/ that mats the fields, understand the joy/ of emptiness."

We encounter the title poem at the end of the book. It's definitely a case of saving the best for last. Although this is a new to me poet and novelist, on the basis of this book alone, I am keen to explore more of his work. His ecologist's heart for the beauty of the vanishing natural world is touching and clearly evident.

The Drum that Beats Within Us is a collection of beautiful poetry. It perfectly captures the embodiment of the westward-ho spirit while paying homage to Native American roots.

When it comes to the name Mike Bond, I have come to expect tense and gripping action tales. I was pleasantly surprised to find life and a love of language infused in these verses. A perfect read for those who enjoy a good poem.

We are still Adam
in his velvet cage,
Eve still hungry for an answer.
To understand the atom
you must build a bomb;
to understand life
you must destroy it.

Title: The Drum That Beats Within Us
Original Rating: Four Stars
Genre: Poetry
Author: Mike Bond

I received a free copy in exchange of an honest review. This review is in no way influenced by the ARC.

A fabulous read by Mike Bond which was a poetic roller coaster ride in itself. The poet is effective in making us see things from his perspective and at times, seriously make us question certain stereotypes and believes that we live with.

Prefacing the book is Bond's insightful essay on why poetry is an essential part of cognitive awareness, "how we find meaning in the incomprehensible, beautiful, tragic and sacred mystery of life."

His poetry dances between reflections on the majesty of wilderness, the joys and sorrows of love, and passionate expressions of life's greatest existential questions.

It's a book I'd suggest to all poetry lovers out there..
P. S. I've reviewed it on Goodreads.

This poetry collection is just as the title and cover suggest very focused on nature, death and life alike.

And I had my fun with it. While I cannot say I connected with any poems (except for Hungry Magpie and Paradise Ducks), they were still well-written and thought out. There are thought-provoking statements and opinions; it talks about environmental change, Native Americans and our impact on wildlife.
I also truly enjoyed the writing. Some poems actually rhyme which is, first of all, very nice to read (reading them aloud especially) and gives them a nice rhythm that other modern works miss. In general, every poem has a nice flow to it, and the breaks actually add to the story.
And the titles are all at the start which, again, I think adds to the story.

Unfortunately, this collection of poems did not appeal to this reader at all. From the arrogant author's introduction through the poems themselves, I could ascertain nothing that was of value to me. The poems were trite and lacking in insight. Most were amateurish and poorly developed. I dislike having to leave such a negative review, but this book begs for it.

Pro: The cover picture is beautiful.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing a free copy in exchange for an honest review

Beautifully placed poetry that takes one away from the noise of traffic and the hubbub of city life. I recommend this book to everyone.
There’s a place for poetry in the world again - hallelujah!

I would like to begin by saying that this book is not bad, it's just not for me.

I could not resonate with it nor did I enjoy it. I was bored just a few pages in as the first 15% of the book is the author droning on about stuff instead of getting right into what I was promised: Poems.

Beautiful use of imagery, but the themes didn't interest or relate to me. The entire book was also rather forgettable and nothing in particular stuck out.

“It takes pain to know it: the thin man’s grimace of sorrow, the fat woman yelling at her daughter, the dog with a broken leg on the roadside, the trapped mouse and poisoned rat, the sparrow in a cat’s claws, the climber in the instant of his fall, the hungry child with no mother or father, the girl kneeling, a soldier’s pistol at her head.“

Thought provoking! Beautifully written.

Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read and enjoy fora fairview.

"We're all sentenced to death." Very true words. Every person is dying every minute of every day. It's difficult to acknowledge this. I felt these words throughout the entire collection. It's the urgency to live and to live in harmony with, rather than exploit, the natural world. The Drum That Beats Within Us is beautiful and damning and uplifting all at once. I greatly enjoyed this collection from Mike Bond.