A Handful of Smoke (Poetry)

by Jim Hart   

Independently Published

Softcover, 66 pages

 

“Amerika the beautiful

the fallen angel

the fixed beauty pageant winner

fucked

the homemade beauty blue ribbon housewife

cheating

with the West Point cadet

the back alley mugger

waiting

for your neighbor’s sixteen-year-old virgin

daughter

blonde skinned woman

of his rapist

fantasies

the November honest politician

who got your vote

and had a numbered Swiss

come January

the technological minds

bought

dealing US only

disposable lighters

blow-out ties and all the rest of the imitation shit

we feed on “

                              Jim Hart “Changing Neighborhoods.

 

An excellent collection of hard boiled poetry from one of the urban masters of the art. The capture an excellent array of emotions from the gutters of New York, from the very hopelessly hopeful to the cynical annihilation of all life and intelligence.

The titular smoke in this case includes a full range of activities - from the falling of the twin towers, to a random gunshot in an alleyway, to a burning house, to an upscale flambé, to a pot roast left too long in the oven. Like the smoke, each poem cascades over the others to create a mosaic of rain streaked cynicism swirling around the Big Apple. 

For more readings, try books by Rex Hurst.