Jefferson Carter
dedicated minor poet
— A positive and perceptive review by Christine Wald-Hopkins of my new collection in today's "Arizona Daily Star," southern Arizona's major newspaper.
“Yesternow” by Jefferson Carter. Moonstone Press. 27 pages. $10.
Rather like the Miles Davis piece referred to in the opening poem and title (“Yesternow”), the poems in this Jefferson Carter chapbook thrum through recurring elements and then punctuate, riff-like — unexpected, entertaining. Recurring elements? Wordplay. Politics and the environment. Music and literature. The tribulations of aging. Crankiness. COVID. And in a jazzy, often satiric voice.
There’s no distance between speaker and poet in these poems: When Carter writes about a son’s teasing, “‘O.K.,/Boomer,’ when I refuse to use/the gender-neutral ‘they,’” you know it’s his own son; when he writes, “It’s not the drugs, my doctor says,/it’s my age,” his own “Thin Skin” is the reference.
These are performance pieces. They’re audience-aware, droll, and stand-up-timed. Take this swipe at contemporary revolutionaries: “You’re not gonna/‘tow’ the line?/You’re gonna nip/injustice in the ‘butt’? /… The revolution will/be televised./I’ll watch it/from this balcony,/me, the Anodyne Kid/cheering you on.”
Bravo, Carter! (Word is, poetry audiences don’t finger-snap anymore. Thank goodness.)
“Yesternow” by Jefferson Carter. Moonstone Press. 27 pages. $10.
Rather like the Miles Davis piece referred to in the opening poem and title (“Yesternow”), the poems in this Jefferson Carter chapbook thrum through recurring elements and then punctuate, riff-like — unexpected, entertaining. Recurring elements? Wordplay. Politics and the environment. Music and literature. The tribulations of aging. Crankiness. COVID. And in a jazzy, often satiric voice.
There’s no distance between speaker and poet in these poems: When Carter writes about a son’s teasing, “‘O.K.,/Boomer,’ when I refuse to use/the gender-neutral ‘they,’” you know it’s his own son; when he writes, “It’s not the drugs, my doctor says,/it’s my age,” his own “Thin Skin” is the reference.
These are performance pieces. They’re audience-aware, droll, and stand-up-timed. Take this swipe at contemporary revolutionaries: “You’re not gonna/‘tow’ the line?/You’re gonna nip/injustice in the ‘butt’? /… The revolution will/be televised./I’ll watch it/from this balcony,/me, the Anodyne Kid/cheering you on.”
Bravo, Carter! (Word is, poetry audiences don’t finger-snap anymore. Thank goodness.)
