The Arithmetic of the Heart, by Alexej Savreux

Poetry, chapbook, 36 pages, from Bottlecap Features. The Arithmetic of the Heart is a brief, powerful compendium of romance, graffiti art, and mathematics, distilled into stream-of-consciousness poetry and diarist literature. While surrealist and idiosyncratic in approach, it’s a work that asks its reader to ponder the overlooked overlap between all three subjects. While at times multiplex, its sincerity, genre-averting, unapologetic weirdness, and genuineness make it a work worth several reads. Savreux’s anarchic aesthetic is tempered by nostalgia, mystery, and often vivid or faint memories, offering a perspective on love that seeks to find some form of logic in human relationships and in life. The work doesn't scream or shout; instead, it sits with you on your bed or on your nightstand or in your headphones, always present, akin to a relaxing, dreamy lullaby, whistling and drifting with you as you rest your eyes, relaxing into a much-deserved and humane slumber, and perhaps into a more pleasant headspace in an increasingly inhumane epoch. Alexej Savreux is a poet, satirist, and art and music journalist who initially studied linguistics and mathematics at university before dropping out to pursue art and writing. His books include Graffiti on the Window, Eat Me & Other Short Poems, Asoak in the Knight’s Moat, The Ballad of Lady Vigilance, Moonshine Ethics For a New Humanity, and the chapbooks The Arithmetic of the Heart, Blue Coffee, and The Moonshined Mixtape. He divides his time between Kansas City, where he works odd jobs, and NYC, where he works more odd jobs. He also makes graffiti and multimedia art with a playful, often purposeless bent.