And what a good choice it was to bring that incredible book into the wilderness! I sat on the side of a glistening lake reading poems such as "The Avocado" (definitely one to use in my Eng 101 Poetry Presentation Food Poem Assignment), and others (like "A Plate of Bones") that I love, love, love. How refreshing to read his wild and whimsical rhyming couplets. I am so excited to continue reading this book as I take off the month of August into the outback wilds to revitalize my inner being, heeding Ram Dass's advice to Be Here Now.
A quick tour around the web will get you started, but you should really pony up and buy Lighthead if you have a few dollars to spare:
Terrance Hayes reading on You Tube
Several Terrance Hayes poems, including audio at poets.org.
Snappy review at Verse Wisconsin. I concur that "The Golden Shovel" (where he pays homage to Gwendolyn Brooks and her poem "We Real Cool") and "Last Train to Africa" (Elizabeth Alexander-inspired) are two of my fav in the book (though I am only about 1/4 of the way through; I found myself re-reading each poem 10 or more times before moving on to the next).
Hayes is definitely in the tradition of being a poet who is part of the great conversation of poetry. He also has a refined sensibility for musicality and slant rhyme.
His poems rock.
And ....
he has a beautiful reading voice.
And...
he is tres, tres gorgeous (never a bad thing).
And, big, big and:
he is going to be reading for Seattle Arts & Lectures on December 8, 2011. How lucky can we Seattle-ites get?!?!
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