I’ve just published a chapbook/e-book called surly petunia, containing 24 of my poems. And so I’m sharing today one of the poems from surly petunia, one that was published in HEATHENzine Aug/Sept 1990. This blog post is for Poetry Pantry #220 on Poets United.
socks are underwear, after all!
eating spaghetti with a cattle prod
the small byzantine child asks
mother may i keep this fish head
it followed me home
& the mother
a neophyte carpet prostitute, says
yes but only if you
drink your opium
all gone
1990
This poem is an example of the ‘bizarre world’ theme that runs throughout much of my poetic output. Does it have a serious, deeper meaning? Maybe. Maybe not. Is the deeper meaning you are finding any relationship to any of the ones I might have had in mind? Probably not. Unless you are weird, like me. (Weird like me— that sound like a great title for a manifesto.)
surly petunia
This chapbook I consider a sampler of my work and so I set the e-book price at Smashwords to free. (The next chapbook won’t be free— it’s all part of my sinister plot to get off SSI disability and have a life.)
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/480237
It will also be on Kindle, where it will cost 99 cents. (Eventually I think it will be free on Kindle because of price-matching, so if you are low on funds, wait, or else download the epub version from Smashwords and use free software ‘calibre’ to convert it to mobi/Kindle format).
Amazon US: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00NZ96EYE
Amazon UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00NZ96EYE?*Version*=1&*entries*=0
Amazon India: http://www.amazon.in/gp/product/B00NZ96EYE?*Version*=1&*entries*=0
If anyone reading this post is thinking about producing their own book or chapbook at Smashwords or Kindle Direct Publishing, and you have questions, feel free to ask me in the comments section.
Chiron Review
Three of my poems, juror expend, drastic quotient and Red Cholera Blossoms have been published in issue #97 of Chiron Review. I’d written to the editor recently because my records stated that three of my poems had been accepted for publication there in 1990, but I never got a contributor’s copy and couldn’t afford to subscribe. He checked his records and found that the poems had not been published, but he invited me to resubmit. I sent 2 of the original poems, and because the third had gotten lost over the years, I included a sijo, Red Cholera Blossoms. All three were accepted! And so I want to encourage all poets and would-be poets out there— don’t be afraid! If a crazy cat lady with Asperger Syndrome can get her poems published in a cool ‘zine like Chiron Review, you can get poems published, too! Just keep writing, submitting, and improving your craft.
E-mail list sign-up
Yes, I have an e-mail list. I’m going to be sending out updates when my books become available.
The form to sign up is at: http://eepurl.com/FN2hr
strange…in a good way 🙂
Nissa congrats on both having the poems published in the review and for publishing your own….and thanks for your words of wisdom….I love fun weird poems which stretches your creative bones…I have to remember that.
You go girl! I like your stuff 🙂
You have written a poem with a surreal feel to it. I am not sure how ‘eating spaghetti with a cattle prod’ would be like, not sure I want to try.
Well…i think I would shy away a bit from drinking opium even if doing so allowed me to keep the fish head that followed me home. Smiles.
I think it would have to be a very small cattle prod. And not an electric one like I’ve seen at the farm stores, either.
Congrats on the book! Yay! And now I want you to write the poem “weird like me” that you mention in the notes. I am positive I will relate!
weirdly unique.congrats on the book too!
I like this. 🙂 The joy of poetry is that it doesn’t always have to be serious or make sense to everyone all the time; it can just be fun.
writing surreal like this sometimes only make sense by coincidence in the readers mind.. which is perfectly ok.
I think it was little more than a 100 years ago Opium was a considered a cure all for many ailments. At least life looked better after a dose!
Fun from the very first line–though the cattle prod, carpet and opium gave me pause. As a sound poem, aloud, it works no matter what.
awesome…congrats to you on the book publication and on the poetry that was accepted. woo hoo! so happy for fellow poets when they reach important milestones in publication (its an uphill battle!).
i’d love to read your book and will definitely check it out. would you like to be featured for an interview on my ezine? perhaps share with us your favorite poem from the book and talk a little about the book and yourself? you’re the first person i’ve asked, actually. 🙂 the ezine actually is pretty new too.
email me at prettypoetstacy@gmail.com and we can discuss it!
stacy lynn mar
http://warningthestars.blogspot.com/
best wishes on your chap book…bizarre world..we live in one indeed…had a mom once that i was working with that thought drinking meth was ok…ha…oy
Congratulations on the publication. I think this is probably a good example of a bizarre world poem. Very interesting.