Terry McCarty's "Interloper: New Poems"

      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:

http://poetry-arts-confidential.blogspot.com/

2) Beyond Baroque Bookstore

http://beyondbaroque.org/

poems copyright 2012 Terry McCarty

article content copyright 2012 marie lecrivain