Denver Butson is a contemporary poet who began writing at the turn of the millennium. He often writes poetry that exists in a dreamlike state, juxtaposing ordinary people and places with extraordinary situations. Just like many other 21st century poets, he composes a lot of poetry in free verse. Butson, however, enjoys writing highly structured poetry as well, and is well known for his "drowning ghazals" - his take on an ancient Persian form.
As a New Yorker writing in the early 2000s, Butson admits to being influenced by the events of September 11th, 2001. He stated in an interview, "I don't think anybody can be around that and not be tremendously affected by it, tremendously moved." Perhaps, not so coincidentally, many of his poems are dark in nature or are about heavy themes. Yet, others are light and uplifting. The primary thing that ties his poems together is his writing style, where he takes a simple line, idea or observation and uses that to craft a poem. "I think it's back to that whole notion of a moment having extra electricity when you notice something that happens that moment." And that electricity permeates his work.