Peabody demonstrates incredible wit and sensitivity in the highly enjoyable poems in Buoyancy and Other Myths. The collection is broken up into three parts, each with its own distinct mood.
The first section, "Shooting Myself in the Foot" focuses on familial ties, the interplay between brothers, and the dance of manhood between fathers and sons. In "The Forgiveness Device," Peabody examines the painful feelings of a son looking back with regret at his relationship with his father:
I'd rub my red bandanna
across his forehead
and soothe his brow.
Tell him, "Relax."
And watch his features soften.
Hear that laughter again.
Peabody's sense of humor is most apparent in the second section, "Kissing Games," which focuses on romantic relationships and their foibles. In "The Other Man is Always French," he has fun with the vulnerabilities of the modern-day sensitive average man, trying to make it in a world where the grass is always greener on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean:
He can picnic
and stroll
with a wineglass
in one upraised hand.
Munch pate,
drink espresso,
and tempt with
ashy kisses.
"Between Funerals," the third section of Buoyancy, is loose on theme and contains more of an eclectic series of poems with titles like "What's Your Favorite Toxic Smell?," "Football Hell" and "Women, Fire and Dangerous Things."
Peabody is well known not only for his own poetry, but also as co-editor of the Mondo Barbie, Mondo Elvis, and Mondo Marilyn anthologies, and as editor of Gargoyle, a literary journal.
If you can get your hands on Buoyancy and Other Myths, I highly recommend it for the broad wit and emotional depth that its poems exhibit.
