Terry
McCarty's new chapbook, Interloper:
New Poems, (copyright
2011/2012 McCarty Press), contains a collection of works that
successfully make the case for narrative poetry, and poetry as social
commentary. McCarty, an integral part of the L.A. poetry scene since
the mid-1990's, is the kind of poet whose work will be appreciated by
those who will listen to the voice along
with the message. McCarty has an illuminating voice; unadorned,
honest, and unapologetic. McCarty, to coin an oft-worn phrase, “tells
it like it is.”
McCarty's
poetry does not contain the usual language tricks; i.e., rhyme,
cleverly misspelled words, etc., though, he does employ bits of
poetic satire when the occasion calls for it, as in the poem,
“Herding Occupy L.A./ Out of Sight/ Out of Mind Blues”:
get along
little protesters
get out of
the street
get onto
the sidewalk
fold your
banners
and pack up
your tents
because you
are making
THE LOS
ANGELES TIMES
and
television journalists mad
as Heck
now the
hounds are baying
for Charlie
Beck
to tear off
his peaceful-
interaction
make-them-disappear-by-
attrition-mask
and emerge
as the Incredible
Two-Headed
Hybrid of Darryl
Gates and
Ed Davis
crying
havoc
and
unleashing the tasers and
batons
get along
little protesters
business
must do whatever it
wants
we're not
going to listen to you
Occupy
people
since our
city is not a city of “the
people”
but a city
of, by, and for
the Very
Important People
of AEG
Interloper,
as a whole, is cohesive. McCarty's intelligent, caustic style
dovetails well with short, direct lines of verse that lead the reader
through a unique perspective of Americana on both a personal, and
political level. There is also an engaging vulnerability in McCarty's
poetry: not the “poor me,” confessional doggerel deliberately
designed to elicit sympathy, but, a vulnerability that is more
universal, and immediately appreciated; the struggle to come to terms
with a part of ourselves, the part that does not let us instantly
divine who we are/what our ultimate purpose may be, as in the poem,
“Dropping Anchor”:
Threw my
weapons overboard.
Wrenched my
hand from my
throat.
Opened the
galley refrigerator.
Enough
rations to survive.
There will
be books to read,
clouds to
watch,
chances to
say hello
to
temporary people
who come
for day-trips
in other
boats
and stop to
eat, drink,
wade in the
shallows.
When they
are gone,
maybe I'll
learn to listen
until I
hear the music
inside the
silence.
My
recommendation: make room on your poetry shelf for Interloper:New
Poems. You'll be glad you did.
Note: You can
purchase Interloper: New Poems (copyright 2011/2012 McCarty
Press, All Rights Reserved) at the following places:
1) Terry
McCarty's blog:
2) Beyond
Baroque Bookstore
poems
copyright 2012 Terry McCarty
article
content copyright 2012 marie lecrivain
Thanks so much. Appreciate the review.
ReplyDeleteGood review. I just want to add that when I misspell a word, I do so because I actually don't know how to spell that word, but, poets being who they are then chastise me for the misspelled word to which my response is that I did so on purpose.
ReplyDelete