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.

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