In M.A.D. Again, poet Michael A. Donovan creates moods that are both stark and intense. In the opening poem, "Cold River," the poet sets a lonely scene, the site of a grim history where a frightened tree keeps a horrible secret. In an ingenious turn of imagination, the poet next has "Poe Describing Me," as the doomed poet turns on himself, while the world shrinks and darkens as good memories fade. The poem "The Wish," conveys empathy and tenderness in return for temporarily unrequitted love; and in "Intellect," the poet questions the accuracy and effectiveness of elaborateness and intellectual responses to society. Poetry that is vivid and heart-felt.