Book excerpt: Rain, Rhyme, and Rhythm is a book of poems conjured out of imagination, and told with a breath of imagination and a mad heart. Author Keivan Niksejel uses compelling imagery along with various literary and poetic devices to create a volume of work that portrays the essence and voice of a few of the many, many facets and faces of the human spirits. In the process, he introduces the reader to a colorful variety of characters, situations, and ideas. From introspective works like "Eyes of Truth" to darker pieces like a "Mad Man's Diary" and "Cannibal," Rain, Rhyme, and Rhythm is a multi-faceted collection of poems of that have been compiled into a cohesive body of work; reflecting the author's past suffering as well as his continuing manifesting of new hopes and aspirations. Like the diary entries of the Mad Man depicted in the poem, Niksejel's writings are direct, at times ironic, full of subtle advice, and always uniquely entertaining.