Poiesis # 4

Leah Angstman at Alternating Current has put together a fabulous issue (and not just because one of my own poems appears in it) for Issue #4 of Poiesis. The poems range in intensity from loving and carefree to dark and foreboding. One poem blew my mind and I am going to let you know now that the only reason I did not include it was because it was just too long for me to try and type up. So you’ll just have to nab a copy for yourself and I’m sure you’ll know what I’m talking about because it’s based on a young man’s controversial lifestyle. I had a hard time paring down the number of poems to share with you and I am thrilled to share a sample of them with you:


Hitchhiking
By: Alan Caitlan

His red taillights are like smashed
windshields, half moons of broken glass
beneath the skin; kicking open the passenger
side door, he invites you inside, says,
“Pull hard, it sticks sometimes.” Pushes down
the gas pedal all the way, dual busted exhaust
pipes, jacked up high, rear springs too: inside,
rolling aluminum beer cans, overflowing ash tray,
smoldering, dropping live butts on grease
stained beyond-all-recognition floor mats,
says, “Like my dolly?” tickling the ass end
of a stuffed cloth blue gnome, its hard rubber
head lying on the hood, says, “Had an accident
with my fist.” Pauses, says, “You know, I killed
a guy once. Looked just like you, he did.”
“No shit,” I want to say but nothing comes out.
The spider web patterns of fractured light,
splinters that penetrate the young driver’s eyes
laying a tight fitting blacktop on the night.

Quite frankly, this poem made me shudder, and that’s a good thing. The sort of person you would dread picking up is instead the driver and so the poet takes a chance and climbs in for the ride and we don’t know how it ends. All we know is the beginning and I’m curious and thirsty for more, Mr. Caitlan.



Fat Free
By: Joseph Dorazio

Salivary
slavery
shackle locks
& lips
ham hocks
& hips
in the land of
milk & honey
no runaway
calorie
it’s obesity’s
emancipation
the label’s
proclamation:
fat free!

I like the alliteration, the pop of rhyme, the whole rhythm of this poem. The subject is great too and is portrayed in short, slim lines. The whole of it is clever and catchy, and I agree with its mockery of the message: The answer to obesity is fat free! Obviously, fat free does not solve much of anything except to make the consumer feel better about themselves. Thank you, Mr. Dorazio, clever poem.



war chant
by: Robert Schuler

I speak for the liberation of the soul
from the slavery of the marketplace

This short poem addresses a broader spectrum of the one above. Free consumers from the marketplace and then their souls will be free. He could go on and on but “enough said.”



Fornication
(or, How My House Got This Way)
By: Anthony G Herles

They fooled me for a while but I caught wise
Those noises in the cellar were not mice
And in the attic, too, those all were lies

The fluffy dolls from Raggedy Ann were some surprise
What she was doing up there was not nice
She fooled me for a while but I caught wise.

Chairs and tables I’ll have to sterilize
They wouldn’t listen to my Puritan advice
So in the living room, all they told were lies.

And GI Joe and Legos seemed to multiply
Regardless of their word to cut the vice
They laughed at me a while, but I caught wise.

Silverware and dishes offered me no alibis
Bathing together seemed to them exotic paradise
So in my kitchen they lived erotic lives.

My house is filled with stuff I can’t abide
Their stand of my confusion will not suffice
They have not fooled me yet, for I am catching wise
Tomorrow I will confront them with their procreation lies.

Finally, a rhyming poem! This one made me laugh out loud, the multiplication of stuff is something I can relate to very well, how about you? Every time my back is turned it seems my own stuff forms taller piles and stacks. The idea that Mr. Herles’ things are fornicating and multiplying is portrayed in a riotous rhyme scheme here.

Okay, so I had about three more poems marked to share with you but I’m going to stop here. After all, you should be reaching for your own copy by now!

If you would like to purchase a copy of Poiesis issue #4 for yourself from Propaganda Press, it is $4.00 (+ $2 US, or $3 out-of-US shipping and handling) at:
http://alt-current.com

or via Paypal to alt.current@gmail.com

OR via check or money order made out to Angstman Arts and mail it to:
Alternating Current
PO Box 183
Palo Alto, CA 94302

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