Nila NorthSun

Don’t let the fact that these poems are about racism, sexism, domestic violence and alcohol and drug abuse lead you to think they’re depressing. Instead, nila northSun finds plenty to celebrate. In her fourth collection of poems, Native American activist and artist northSun addresses the highs and lows of life--and she chooses to focus on the highs.

For instance, if her man’s gone for too long, she’ll bust out of his Victoria’s Secret fantasy by “dancing in granny panties”:

the waistband short of my armpits
& so comfortable
as i snap my fingers
bend my knees
and let my ass bob like a ...
what?
full moon on a tumultuous ocean?

It’s not that the brutal details aren’t important, or that the issues northSun writes about aren’t serious. She’s got all the heavy stuff down, but she’s so in love with the language that her poems inevitably take a twist toward either irony or humor. In “women’s shelter,” northSun writes, “this is a place of hairy legs / & dark roots mixed with gray.” Yes, it’s funny; but the next lines put the humor in perspective:

this is a place where
as you leave
for an appointment
the worker matter-of-factly asks
“he hasn’t tried to kill you, has he?”
& you matter-of-factly answer
“not yet”

love at gunpoint: poems is the newest release from Penn Valley’s R.L. Crow Publications, and is a fitting addition to their backlist of “outlaw” poetry.

http://www.newsreview.com/sacramento/Content?oid=oid%3A259875… (más)