Doug Roy, Lily Pad Small, Cut Paper
Iambe
No joke, she’s never worn the same outfit twice.
Today, her shirt’s a canny hand-stitched reproduction
vintage-90s soft-weave cotton-construction
fuchsia Tastee-Tee—glitter-flaked device
a rainbow over rampant horse, with shooting stars
—one size too small. Taupe miniskirt, pilling tights
the brokest pair of Docs debased to just the right
aporia of Hubba-Bubba gum-smeared tar
“Transgressive!” rave the Tick-Tockerati. She prefers
“freak.” Her installation of Clément’s “tarantella”
as witchcore suite went double-viral. Her sisters
confide the cutting—then, later, her paper-doll
amputees, Groomsman’s Prostheses for Falada
those Medusa heads painted in cereal bowls.
________________
Manny Blacksher
Review by Rick Adang
A nice thing about poetry is that, besides the pleasure of the verses, I often get to add to my meager store of general knowledge. The title of this poem sent me to Wikipedia, where I discovered that Iambe, in Greek mythology, was the daughter of Pan and Echo, and the granddaughter of Hermes. Her name means “banter” in Greek and she was thought of as a prankster. Great! So Mr. Blacksher seems to want you to know all that, starting the poem with “No joke.” Lots of bantering in this rambling joy of a poem. Updated version of the mythological girl or a living, breathing woman? Matters not, since Blacksher has brought the character to life. A true picture of a prankster. The energy of this poem is wonderful. My favorite line: “aporia of Hubba-Bubba gum-smeared tar.” Yes, I went back to Wikipedia again. Aporia means “a logical impasse or contradiction”. I love the mixing of this lovely Greek-derived word with the pop culture Hubba-Bubba. Besides, rhythmically that line is so jagged and appealing.