Kristiana Rae Colón

A great poet I just saw in Acentos Review issue of September 2008 is Kristiana Rae Colón's set of "2 poems" here. She has an incredible, visceral style--one of the few people who succeeds at being both symbolist, tangible, atmospheric and just fun. 

I love her historical gems of poems, they're made even better by her sense of the magnitude daily life and special moments. She's one of the few who can elevate a poem by including daily life.

Here are a few lines I especially loved:

From "holy water": 



vieques, puerto rico

Mosquito Bay hums hungry

the sun dipping into the glimmering Caribbean [...]

The air is pregnant with vampires

We fasten damp life jackets across our breasts

and tiptoe barefoot into deep mud

The mangroves stink of water and rotting leaves,

the heavy mineral musk of seaweed 

steams around our quivering calves [...]

From "111507.01":

I ride wings of demigods too heavy with pride to fly

            walk the wall to the gate Ishtar and cut my eyes on the sun [...]

From "111507.06":

At the feast of Babel

girls with painted eyes

drank palm wine from the south [...]