Influence driven Poetry.

"Superheroes"

by Rachel Pinkstone

He emptied his pockets to show
me what he was Worth.
A dirty Quarter from 1978, the year 
his mother was born.
Used tissues, slightly sticky, bloodied,
wadded into a ball.
A Rock, thought an arrowhead,
still enveloped in dirt.
A Note to the nurse, a claim
his dosage had changed.
A Spider-Man tattoo, temporary,
but perpetually his hero.

“I like Spider-Man too. Can’t say
I’m a fan of Mary-Jane.”
He eyed me first, amassed his wealth
and laughed. Turned away, then left 
the classroom, 
Smiling, coughing 
hard on the way out.

"She asked me if I liked Tattoos..."

This is my second workshop poem, written in response to an ill-informed poem about tattoos.

[Untitled]


The pen pierced into my soil, planting 
her favorite flower.
“African Violets,”
 I demanded.

They tried to sell me just a rose.

My blood pooled upon the petals; these 
flowers had no thorns. The air
filled with bees.
Stingers. Buzzing 
down into my bones.

When the flowers fully blossomed, 
 fruits of his labor meticulously 
drawn: She criticized my choices 
but kissed me, 
sweetly,
for the blooms.

Just keep reading, Rachel...just keep reading...

"Tall and tan and young and lovely, the girl from Ipanema goes walking and when she passes, each one she passes goes, "A-a-ah." -  "Girl from Ipanema" -English lyrics written by Norman Gimbel.

D.A. POWELL

If you aren't caught off guard by the obvious need to turn your book sideways in order to take part in some of D.A. Powell's poetry, his use of catchy, and often ironic pop songs will definitely give you a little kick in the pants.

I seem to be drawn most passionately to the poets who are hiding personal pain(of the speaker) or experience right out in the open. Powell's poem, "[tall and thin and young and lovely the michael with kaposi's sarcoma goes walking]" uses a play on this popular song about a beautiful young woman to heighten the power and beauty of living with disease.  The Bossa Nova song, fits perfectly, crooning about a landscape so different from the one provided in the poem; however, the speaker seems to walk with content along the cold beach displaying the battle scars of his disease and little power he still holds in his "final stages." The power of the song, and the movement, and the hope.

Wow. That felt deep.

Anywho, it's D.A. Powell's ability to mold the music that keeps together the frail world that the characters of his poems live in, with the harsh words of the reality that they exist in.