Tuesday, August 3, 2010

David S. Pointer's Warhammer Piano Bar

David S. Pointer hails from Murfreesoboro, Tennessee, has a B.S. in Criminal Justice and an M.A. in Sociology and his latest collection of poems, Warhammer Piano Bar, is published by Thunder Clap Press by Editor Amanda Deo. The art on the cover and within the pages is by artist Justin Jackley and adds to the dark toned and fast-paced lines of the poems found inside. The poems range from the personal to the ethereal and I am happy to share a few with you below:


Driftermobile

Ice in a
cowboy bathtub
behind me in
the Nomad

road thoughts
detonate this day

a few bottles
of Most Wanted
whisper to
the gas pedal

oncoming cactus
start to costar

ping…ping…
szzz………..
the car conks
out of bounds

No I 10 5-0 out
but no ale house

whores who are
semi-certified

to wrench up
old cars either

This poem reminds me of road trips and crossing the Southwestern deserts. The language is unusual and catchy, I have no idea what “a few bottles/of Most Wanted/” means but I love the lines and leads me to think of outlaws. “Oncoming cactus/start to costar,” I take to mean that the car is passing cactus like most cars pass power lines on the freeway and that they are becoming the major part of the landscape. The entire poem is entertaining, and the ending is just as strange yet intriguing mentioning a lack of whores who are able to fix cars which could mean any number of things depending on your own perspective. I think of scantily clad women at gas stations who are tough broads who can also turn a wrench. Either way, this poem entertained me from beginning to end.



Small Press Loss

like a crash cart nurse
losing a brain injured boy

like an old prison coach
bear cage rolling to river

like a surfer bitchslapped
by his own good board

like the eerie Edison era
sounds of a phonograph

sold eighty years ago
on an antique wall phone

this is what it’s like to lose
someone in the small press


Yes! That’s the word that came to mind after I read the poem. A medley of strange and unrelated images yet all easy to picture in the mind’s eye, almost capturing the sound and fell of loneliness without coming out and saying so. For every small press poet that passes there is a medley of mixed feelings and memories and the sense of loneliness and loss that we are one less in number in our love and in our craft. Yes.



Inkville

all these poets
caught in
a minimally
successful
state at
the compliment
swap meet
continuously
reaching into
wallet world
for a green
launch pad
into paid
literary
appreciation

This poem has lines that are just plain fun to read, I love “the compliment/swap meet” which you could apply to almost any setting, and “wallet world” which seems almost like it could be its own actual store instead of a place for poets struggling to get by, hoping for a paid literary collection of their work instead of the typical free copies. If only more people in the world understood and appreciated poetry to make this a better paid profession, yes? That is part of why this blog is what it is, thank you Mr. Pointer, for hitting the nail on the sentimental head.


David S. Pointer has poems throughout the small press and has been featured previously on Poet Hound, you can find him at Alternating Current’s Propaganda Press as well.
If you enjoyed this short sample of poems, you’ll be pleased to know that the book, Warhammer Piano Bar, costs a mere $7.00 (not including shipping and handling) from Thunderclap Press at:
www.thunderclap.wordpress.com

and you can also e-mail Thunderclap Press at: thunderclap.mag@gmail.com


If you’d like to learn more about the artist, Justin Jackley, check out his website at:
www.justinjackley.com

Thanks always for reading, please click in tomorrow for more Poems Found by Poet Hound…

1 comment:

open your mind. said...

Hey, thanks for the mention! You absolutely can also find David on Propaganda Press, as well:

Ice Age: http://alt-current.com/pp/pp_item.html#ice_age

Camelot Kid's Triggertopia: http://alt-current.com/pp/pp_item.html#camelot_kids_triggertopia

Please check these books out, as well! David is an awesome political poet with a gutsy forward tone and the humble background to make it real. He rocks!

--Propaganda Press