I eat my peas with honey.
I've done it all my life.
It makes the peas taste funny,
But it keeps them on the knife.

Would you like some poetry to accompany your music feast? Or do you prefer a side dish of music with your main course poetry? Either way, the New York poet, Aja Monet, will serve up something to your taste. This track from her new album, when the poems do what they do, is a fine example of her art.

Much of Aja’s verse is couched in colloquial U.S. English, which registers only faintly on the internal Crotchety interpretation machine. But it tickles the intellect with its rhythms and word play. In this track, for example, we find an adjective used as a verb.

You will love
And it will unhurt us all

Aja Monet

What’s more, the musical compositions stand up on their own. If you find the meaning of the words obscure, you can still enjoy the instrumental backing.

You wouldn’t want to quote Ms Monet at a classical poetry convention any more than you’d eat peas off a knife in polite company, but there will always be a welcome for modern wordsmiths in these pages.