There is a dichotomy to Dennis Villelmi’s poetic voice.  His work is at once grotesque and baroquely alluring; his poems are beautifully crafted to describe appalling subjects.  I think that this is what makes me envy and return to his work, time and again — in addition to the facts that Dennis is a valued friend and that I enjoy dark poetry.  I think that if I had to sum up what attracts me to his poetry, it would be his apparently effortless mastery of juxtaposing elegant language with horrifying subjects.

His newly published “As Zion’s Drawn” is an excellent example.  (You can find it here over at The Bees Are Dead.)

This is the second in Dennis’ series of poems inspired by the research and writing of Richard Patterson, who has traveled the world gathering historical evidence that Jack the Ripper was actually former medical student Francis J. Thompson.  (Mr. Patterson has graciously given his approval to Dennis and B.A.D. for this literary homage.)  For more information about Patterson’s startling body of work, visit his website here at http://www.francisjthompson.com/.

For the first installment in this series of poems, please see “The Hidden Player” at The Bees Are Dead.