Sunday, April 6, 2014

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 [...]

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