The Run down: The Confetti of Decay is a crown of sonnets written in seven forms, punctuated with a villanelle, and an essay for readers who wish to learn how to write their own sonnets. The Narrative: The Confetti of Decay ’s first-person point-of-view echoes the bleak isolation many Americans feel as they survey the political and economic landscape. Wise initiates the crown with an inverted Petrarchan sonnet, reminiscent of Shelley’s “England 1819,” to evoke the image of a fort’s upside-down flag of distress. The ensuing sonnets question our dedication to various pursuits that harm and exploit us. The crown’s speaker concludes with the appeal of what if we “took life easy” and “laughter and family were kept chiefly/and love of self was in all that we do. / We’d all be heroes in the abattoir.” Bonus: This edition concludes with Wise’s “Super Brief Essay on the Sonnet,” which offers interesting background information and a valuable guide for readers who may wish to experiment with these forms for themselves, as well as classic examples and an index of rhyme schemes for the forms he uses.