KGB Monday Night Poetry is pleased to present...
A night with Bloof Books poets!
Shanna Compton, Peter Davis + Jennifer L. Knox
Monday, February 28
Tomorrow!
Hosted by Laura Cronk, Megin Jimenez and Michael Quattrone Reading starts at 7:30pm
Admission is FREE
KGB Bar * 85 East 4th Street * New York, NY 10003 * Phone: 212-505-3360
*****
The Bloody Intellect
What has she done
with her white feathered dressing gown
her getaway rococo as dream?
with her white feathered dressing gown
her getaway rococo as dream?
Misplaced her tongue
along a redundant ear
in error, in sorrow, with intent.
along a redundant ear
in error, in sorrow, with intent.
Beginning with white
is to erase the body,
silence the voice, blank the self
is to erase the body,
silence the voice, blank the self
to receive the costumes it consumes.
Potted plants stand in trios,
pointed & pruned. Trained
with snipping & ties.
pointed & pruned. Trained
with snipping & ties.
So public a face, hers,
it hardly belongs.
A camera. All poses. All lies.
it hardly belongs.
A camera. All poses. All lies.
Shanna Compton's is the author of For Girls (& Others) (Bloof Books, 2008), Down Spooky (Winnow, 2005), Scurrilous Toy (Dusie Kollektiv, 2007), Big Confetti (with Shafer Hall, Half Empty/Half Full, 2004), and the editor of GAMERS: Artists, Writers & Programmers on the Pleasures of Pixels (Soft Skull, 2004). Her poems and essays have appeared widely in magazines such as No Tell Motel, MiPoesias, Verse, McSweeney's, Absent, Coconut and Spork, and in anthologies including Best American Poetry 2005, The Bedside Guide to No Tell Motel, Bowery Women and Digerati. She lives in New Jersey.
Read more of her work at shannacompton.com.
*****
Poem in Which the Word "Prestige" Should Be Defined Broadly, Meaning I'm Not Necessarily Just Seeking Traditional Forms of Power, But Other Forms of Power as Well
It's important to me that this poem is not just shtick, but the real thing. I'm sure some people might have lots to criticize in this poem, but all that really matters to me is that there are critics. I need people to read this. The more, the better. The more people who read this poem, and then think and write about it, the more likely I am to be happy and rich and have an enjoyable job/life. It doesn't really matter what is said. I just need people to talk about me, to want poems from me, to help me out because they love my work, or because they want to make fun of it, etc. All of this is stuff that validates me as a human, plumps my ego which is in constant need of plumping, and is excellent for my vita. Also, it is good for my ego, which constantly needs attention. I mention my ego twice (three times if you include this) because it's very important to me. Ultimately, I hope some of the attention directed at me will result in more prestige and perhaps a better job.
Peter Davis' books of poetry are Hitler's Mustache and Poetry! Poetry! Poetry! His poems have recently appeared in Court Green, The Equalizer and Best American Poetry 2010. He lives in Muncie, Indiana and teaches at Ball State University.
Read more of his work at Artisnecessary.com.
*****
Nice ‘N’ Easy Medium Natural Ash Brunette
On their fifth date, Mike and Lou attended
a Grow Your Own Cocaine class at the Y.
All the young couples wanted to move out
to the country and live in shacks where rain
swept in sideways, knit hybrid arugula and grow
their own cocaine. “We know how to make wine
in the toilet,” a scruffy couple in matching t-shirts
that said DIRT said as the four hovered over the mirror.
“I read that after the apocalypse, potato chips will be
extinct—they’re disappearing now,” said Lou.
“Good riddance,” said Scruffy gruffly which
saddened Lou for some reason. That night,
she asked Mike to strap on a Silver Spud before
they made love like animals, for hours, as some
wildly expensive thing in the oven burned.
Jennifer L. Knox's new book, The Mystery of the Hidden Driveway was published by Bloof Books in 2010. Her other books, Drunk by Noon and A Gringo Like Me, are also available through Bloof. Jennifer was born in Lancaster, California—home to Frank Zappa, Captain Beefheart, and the Space Shuttle. She has taught poetry writing at Hunter College and New York University. Her work has appeared in numerous publications such as The New Yorker, American Poetry Review, and Ploughshares and in anthologies including Best American Poetry (1997, 2003 and 2006), Great American Prose Poems: From Poet to Present, and Free Radicals: American Poets Before Their First Books.
Read more of her work at www.jenniferlknox.com/writing.html.
