In this Book
- Starship Tahiti: Poems
- Book
- 2013
- Published by: University of Massachusetts Press
- Series: Juniper Prize for Poetry
summary
The poems in Brandon Dean Lamson’s first volume, Starship Tahiti, explore imprisoned bodies and the tension between captivity and imagination. Beginning on Rikers Island, the book traces a creation myth in reverse, moving from prison to the spacious arches of Grand Central Station to the shores of the Chesapeake Bay.
Lamson examines themes of violence, gender, and identity in various real and imagined settings where inmates read Antigone, Howlin’ Wolf sings in a black barbershop, and Metallica records burn on a Viking altar. Throughout these shifts, the poems construct fractured narratives that subvert linear storytelling. The layering of voice and imagery in this collection transgresses boundaries between the secular and the sacred, and between the communal and the personal. As the speaker of “Portland Bardo” says,
The fragile, in between state of larvae hatching
is no less desirable than full bloom in a city of roses, if such a city can ever be found.
Table of Contents
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- Table of Contents
- pp. vii-viii
- Acknowledgments
- pp. ix-xii
- Black Dog, White Dog
- pp. 3-6
- Pirate Ships
- p. 8
- Prison Letters
- p. 9
- Razor Dream Sonnet
- p. 10
- Insomnia Sonnet
- p. 11
- Exit Wounds – An Interlude
- pp. 12-13
- Rose M. Singer
- pp. 14-15
- Pit Bull Training
- p. 16
- Storming the Warehouse
- pp. 19-20
- Buddha’s Robes
- pp. 23-24
- White Power
- pp. 25-26
- Knights of Fidelity
- pp. 28-29
- Portland Bardo
- pp. 32-34
- Rescue Divers
- pp. 37-38
- Starship Tahiti
- p. 39
- Crazy Horse & Bondage
- pp. 41-42
- Dark Magus
- p. 43
- Cannibal Headdress
- p. 44
- Filming the Explosion
- pp. 49-50
- Tropicana Drag
- p. 51
- Psalm of Sambo
- pp. 54-55
- ’Bama Barbershop
- pp. 61-62
- Award, Back Cover
- pp. 65-BC
Additional Information
ISBN
9781613762653
Related ISBN(s)
9781625340092
MARC Record
OCLC
859686979
Pages
72
Launched on MUSE
2013-06-27
Language
English
Open Access
No