I buy most of my books in bookstores. When I do order a collection of poetry online, I tend to order the cheapest copy available. Not just to be frugal, or to take the most advantage of online shopping, but because many of these books come used, often by students who have filled the margins with notes. These notes are usually Hella Basic. Which is fine. It might be their first time experiencing poetry. Or they were forced to take this class and have been told to take notes, but have no idea what parts of a poem are important. Or they are experts and their notes are well-researched and fascinating, and drive me to explore more. The copy of Yusef Komunyakaa's Talking Dirty With Gods that I received was Hella Basic. But without me having to do any editing, they produced a poem I quite like. These are the notes with the linebreaks, punctuation, and capitalization as they appeared in the book. Stanza breaks occur when there are many notes for one poem, although there are some stanzas that represent several poems, which only had one note in them. A Young Reader's Guide To Yusef Komunyakaa's
Talking Dirty With Gods, As Written By A Young Reader Beastly man Virgin huntress legend that Judas in the Bible hanged himself on. He stands for a betrayer -a skinning knife monster made of different parts God of doors that had 2 heads formalist - relation to title? sociological - sum up main points? painting river of the dead shorebird not too high, not too low consequences of childlike behavior --> (indecipherable) copy animal's abilities -King of the gods -cares -makes himself off as the victim -entertainer ladies man promotes peace promotes social interaction -fire center of attention -large disastrous fire -trickster -player -used many disgui - bull sheperd eagle Zeus = Jupiter -singing -thrumming -playful flirtation -goddess of marriage wife of Zeus -twins raised by wolves & are the founders of the city of ROME -nipples -a museum in flame }we start believing our lies <strike>he gets aroused</strike> -act of having weight Romulus kills Remus to her children necrophilius DEAD :City of the dead city Museum b/c that's where all the artifacts are: The sarcophagi vials of ash, etc. -b/c its the city of angels wealth, <strike>& business</strike> is busy -partial shadow <strike>+ an eclipse</strike> -egyptian god <strike>the end</strike> of the afterlife/death -a stone coffin -EARLY ARCheologists -a sailor that was always drunk traitor -A faun-like God of sheep & flock. He was <strike>in</strike> linked to God of <strike>Isis</strike> Thionisis Also known as the one that discovered music Greek God Of Lust [He made people fall in love (like Cupid)] - you are in on it. you're part of the process -a poet -crazy love -------difficult to define <strike>rampant</strike> }He wAs pAn being moved on -a RiveR (no control) a handsome, seductive, jealous maRRied man a nobleman frequently in love affairs. (mAnwhoRe) -wishes -intimacy -touch - sexual ---longing ---dry die > obstacle He desires For her to speak Of him intimately --wants to hear her say his name -obsession --battle ? -Killing of Babies -mostly women female Babies T: women try to escape the fate lives they live ---out of the dead curled milk - sour action of having sex -action of having sex -engage from -past...upbringing crazy? sounds? of sex? -condom? -cum? -virgin? -dildo? -porn? - - Americans - open to sex non-Americans-closed -sexual implication -pain reliever -enjoying -pleasure pain of last love death connotations, sin + temptation? -->demon in the form of a man (indecipherable) woman to seduce one in dreams -not 1st time! -->not pleasant -->familiar scent -->sex, intimacy }bold but afraid -abusive sun ] -->actress, model 50s & 60s -->art of Dadaism --. Surrealism -improper - most evil time (opposite 3pm - most holy) --? -->soul, (indecipherable) --inability to move on -->dirty doves in chimney creator of -trap -found in chimney -->fire, burning, escape, dirty secretive sneaky Traditional spAnish. Remedies -old person or old ways CHIldren or meN
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I'm really enjoying Yusef Komunyakaa's Talking Dirty With Gods but the poems are so short, and so similarly themed that it didn't take long for me to stop wanting to come up with prompts based on these poems, preferring, instead, to just read the book. Here are the prompts I came up with before I called it quits. 1. Hearsay: Star, he's the sperm bank's/Most valuable donor. But contrary/To what you may have heard, this/Bellerophon, he isn't a great lover. What are two titles that you might imagine would intersect but don't.
2. Homo Erectus: Komunyakaa discusses primitive men who bash the skull/Of another man's progeny to retain power in a group. What's the worst thing you'd be willing to do to keep whatever level of power you consider yourself currently having? 3. Utetheisa Ornatrix, the First Goddess: Ghost line: she's a snag/Of silk from a blood orange/Kimono Night 4. The Centaur: Write a poem about a part of you that keeps another part of you from achieving your goals. The brain/heart, brain/genitals, heart/genitals, are the easy ways out. Try and focus on two other parts of you that come into conflict. Yusef Komunyakaa's I Apologize For The Eyes In My Head is one of my favorite collections. I selected it for this project and told one of the other writers I would let them borrow it. Unfortunately, I had previously let another writer borrow it and I don't remember whom. As it's $35 or more for it online, and well out of bookstores, I've subbed in the selection of "I Apologize For The Eyes In My Head" from his collection Neon Vernacular, which is also excellent. After reading through the whole thing ad coming up with a few ideas, I decided to go back to the first one that struck me. The opening poem examines being introduced as a man. As I've recently written a couple of poems focused on my gender, I decided to take the idea somewhere slightly different. Speak Easy
Adam Stone Introduce me first as a mouth a taker of air and a geyser of noise My hands enter next though they are really just ambassadors of mouth working also for brain which should be in charge I should be known first as brain but listen to how mouth leads before brain counts the ballots I am known less for my speech bubbles and more for my bubbles of speech an oversudsed washing machine in a trite sitcom laughtracked and unfunny No other part of my body can be seen outside the shadow of my mouth I have a cast iron masseter I have a closed end tongue |
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