JYBS 9: Catherine Cohen's "God I Feel Modern Tonight"

Purchased: BookWoman
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Recommended By: Perusing the shelves of BookWoman while on vacation with some poetry friends. I was trying to pick up a wide variety of books, and this is a book to read when you need a different flavor of satire than you're going to find in most poetry collections.

Pages Of Poetry: 67

Recommended For: This is a niche pick. If you hate Instagram Poetry but think you'd enjoy a satire of it, this is for you. It's a comedian's over-the-top parody of a wannabe-influencer detailing their exciting life. Only it's not very exciting. There are many references to their sex life and trying to be famous with their tongue planted firmly in their ass-cheek.

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All I've been reading lately is the stupid
decline of America and how difficult it is to be a person
with skin in this society run by rich people with
nostalgic boners for slavery, misogyny, and illiteracy among the lower castes.
All of it's true. All of fills me with whatever 
snack is nearest me, as I never want to be caught
cooking when I'm angry and disenfranchised.
I'm going to keep reading the dire
but god I needed a break, and this was
a swig of Fernet. I assume it's what the Frat boys drink
when they grow out of Jaeger bombs and start trading
stocks at their father's firms. It's the most entitledly
flavored bitter I've allowed me lips to touch.
Not this book. Sorry. This book is great. 
This book is a shot glass full of Fentiman's Curiosity
Cola that Cohen dramatically downs at a bar, telling
you it's Fernet. But it's actually sweet and kinky,
a little more syrupy than you're used to
but it's also got that uncommon bite to it.
You initially might think you don't like it
because you know it's not something you can drink
every day or even every week but every once in a while
​you need something to jar you awake that isn't going to linger
​for the rest of the day reminding you of your futile mortality.

Prompts

1. ...I Woke Up At Six Am As A Joke. What happens when you break an important routine? Like, you're definitely a night person who works a late night job but some times you have to get up super early. What does that do to your day?

2. ...I Went To The Gym With Someone I Had Sex With. Make a short list of things that you think "make you an adult" that most people never mention. Are you adulting?

3. ...My Therapist Told Me To Have A Drink. Start your poem by losing something in your home/apartment/trailer/car and end with a completely unrelated epiphany.

4. Italy. What behaviors do you exhibit when you're depressed that you wish you could change? Talk about whether you'd prefer someone to help you out of a funk or if you just want to be left alone.

5. There's No Such Thing As Overreacting, It's Called Reacting, Darling! What's the most annoying thing a doctor has ever told you. Were they right?

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Where You Can Buy This: Penguin Random House

What You Should Read After:
Beau Sia's A Night Without Armor 2: The Revenge
Anne Carson's Norma Jean Baker Of Troy 
Mike Doughty's Slanky 
Tommy Pico's IRL 
Dorothy Parker's Enough Rope