Disclaimer:
authors were killed in the making of this chapbook.
A moment comes when a poet needs
to divest himself of his poetic gods, or lose himself in the “noise”
of his betters. This is a valuable lesson lost on the many devotees
of Charles Bukowski and e.e. cummings. With Joshua Hebbern's new
self-published chapbook, Motorcycle Ballerina Jaguar Menage A
Trois (Or, The Death Poems) (copyright 2012 Joshua Hebburn), he's
made an heroic effort to do so.
Within
the framework of 11 poems, Hebburn humorously annihilates his primary
poetic influences; David St. John, Frederick Seidel, and, to a lesser
extent, Brendan Constantine (who, in my opinion, needs to remain a
positive and lasting influence over any contemporary poet). Hebburn
has deeply imbibed the best qualities of these three poets in the
areas of language, imagery, and rhythm. And... he's just
managed to make his own voice heard above the others with ornamental
word play, sarcastic wit, and BDSM subtext.
Hebburn,
in his role as poet, is Death, as he swiftly and thoroughly
strikes through the layers of influence. Each poem has a stark,
muscular presence - similar to a Rodin sculpture - memorable to the
very last line. Killing one's darlings is a necessary and unpleasant
task a writer/poet needs to employ to keep the reader's interest,
yet, Hebburn convinces the reader to savor the experience, as in the
poem, Death (II: Substance):
To the
right person, the pine needles, the needling light
is x
C.C's of
morphine
and the
streets sizzle and smoke like a hot plate
in the rain
After the
rain,
everybody,
in exhalation, seems to have just tossed
a cigarette
everybody's
a member of the cult of smoker
and your
due is one cigarette when asked
(you will
be asked when the rain runs out
before the
cancer blossoms light pink
on the
branches of the lung)
it's as the
pardon me is the due of the cult polite
and limping
optimism the due of the humanist
etcetera
You will
find much so much is alike, if you are right
Believe me,
people will tell you that you're a head of your time
You will
find that a pine cone is just an ear of wheat
when
cracked with a sharp sickle
in a dark
room
Hebburn
is fairly new to the L.A. poetry scene, though one can find his
writing in various online journals. It will be interesting to see,
over the next 20-30 years, what kind of a poet he will evolve into;
he's learned from some of the best, and is off to a strong start with
Motorcycle Ballerina. But, the question remains: will Hebburn,
in time, become one of those poets who will inspire other poets to
“metaphorically” murder him in turn?
Motorcycle
Ballerina Jaguar Menage A Trois (Or, The Death Poems) (copyright
2012 Joshua Hebburn), 18 pages, $5, contact the author at
joshuahebburn@gmail.com
Note:
In the meantime, pick up a copy of his chapbook! It's a limited
edition with hand-drawn cover artwork, and, it's reasonably priced.
photos
and article copyright 2012 marie lecrivain
