BLUE LIPSTICK
By John Grandits
Clarion, 2008
Category: Concrete Poems
I know! I know! A Poetry Friday post from me? Crazy. But I am so excited about this collection of poems that I have to share.
Concrete poems, for the uninitiated, are poems whose words are displayed purposefully and artistically so as to expand the meaning or context of the poem. The resulting images lend nuance and intrigue and humor. For example, the poem “Talking to my Stupid Younger Brother Is Like Swimming Upstream in a River to Nowhere” is a hilarious and oh-so-realistic conversation between fifteen-year-old Jessie and her younger brother Robert; the fifty-four lines of the poem are arranged in the shape of a river. (For a better explanation from a better-qualified explainer (is that a word?), check out this How-To by concrete poet Paul B. Janeczko.)
Anyway, I was inspired to pick up BLUE LIPSTICK after hearing John read from the collection at IRA last week. His poems are funny, realistic, accessible, and completely brilliant. BLUE LIPSTICK is a glimpse into the life of a contemporary teenager; Jessie touches on everything from bad hair days to silver spandex … and she brought me straight back to the 1980s (er, my teenage years).
The truly fabulous news is that BLUE LIPSTICK is a follow-up to John’s earlier collection of concrete poems, called TECHNICALLY, IT’S NOT MY FAULT, which gives reader’s a look at life from younger brother Robert’s point of view. TECHNICALLY is so on my To Read list.
Happy Poetry Friday!