This poet is not for the faint of heart or the easily offended. His poems can make you laugh, think, or even make you uncomfortable. He pushes the envelope. Below I have included a link to his personal site filled with poems so you can see for yourself what I’m talking about. In the meantime, I asked the crew at the Guerrilla Poetics Project if I could have permission to post a poem from his book The Magnificent Seven produced by 12 Gauge Press and they said yes! Just to let you know, the book is available for purchase for $5.00 at the Guerrilla Poetics Store and that is how I came by purchasing it for myself. I love the cover, it is a watercolor painting of a man holding a guitar with the title of the poem I am about to reveal to you as the painting’s title.
Here are some useful links to check Justin Barrett out:
http://www.guerillapoetics.org/store/
http://justinbarrett.com/justinbarrett_lt.html
And without further delay, here is one of my favorite poems from Justin Barrett’s book:
they say robert johnson sold his soul to the devil, but i’m convinced the devil sold his soul to robert Johnson
the memphis heat,
sweltering and
humid,
drips off him like condensation down
a bottle of beer as he waits
at the crossroads.
the devil walks
towards him from the
north.
“howdy son,” the
devil says.
“howdy to you,”
robert returns.
“i got something for you
if you got something for me,”
the devil says
and that’s how it went.
when it was over
robert johnson returned
able to play his guitar
like it was a woman;
alternately turning
it on and pissing
it off,
making it moan
and sigh,
groan and cry.
they say robert johnson sold his
soul to the devil
but i’m convinced the devil
sold his soul to
robert johnson.
and it was the only time
the devil lost a bet.
Now how about that? The ending is my favorite part because how often do you ever hear of the devil losing? This poem rocks and I dare you to read more of his work on the GPP broadsides archive and on his personal site. Give him a shout out at GPP if you like, his work is awesome.
Thanks for reading, please drop in tomorrow for another great poetry web-site.
4 comments:
Glad you're given barrett a mention--the work is solid, & well represented by some of the finest publishers in the small press: Bottle of Smoke, sunnyoutside, & Centennial. Do yourself a favor & soupport both barrett & these book-making ARTISANS with a purchase...you won't be disappointed.
I will do my best to do so, thanks for your comment.
jb is pretty rapidly becoming one of my favorite poets ... and since he's an SLC local, I'm hoping to buy him a beer one day.
Now that would be awesome, to buy a poet a beer in honor of his poetry. Right on!
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