John Baltisberger

Poetry in one form or another has been around almost as long as language. We have used it to communicate our joys and heartbreaks, our victories and our losses. But fear has also been a constant companion, and our ghost stories and monsters stretch their claws back into history as far as the eyes can see. It's with this is mind that we begin our journey through various poetic forms, from traditional Japanese Haiku to more modernist takes such as The Bop. Exploring the rules that create these literary creations all while bending their use to telling scary stories. 

Heavily inspired by the American pulp horror writers of the 1930's, this chapbook explores themes of madness and forgotten monsters. Haunted houses that demand sacrifice and sunken cities waiting to be rediscovered. 25 poems, each using different forms dive into the chilling and often deranged world of horror.

Praise for "Shards of Shattered Sentiments"
"It feels like walking in a dreamy and mysterious dark tunnel between the author's articulation"—Naturre G. Tengger Cavalry

"All of the poems in Shards of Shattered Sentiments are dark, twisted, and full of imagery that will make you think, make you see, and perhaps leave you more than a little unnerved."—Roxanne Rhoads, allthingshalloweenguide.blogspot.com