The Knife As Metaphor In the Outlaw Poetry of Dennis Gulling

The knife is a frequent metaphor in the new book of Outlaw poetry The Blood Dark Sea by Dennis Gulling. Conversely, the knife is frequently a metaphor for nothing but itself in the new book of crime noir poetry The Blood Dark Sea by Dennis Gulling. The reader is free to decide. In 100 pages of true crime inspired vignettes of bad behavior, bad decisions, and bad consequences, the good comes from Gulling's unflinching and steady hand on the so-called camera he holds to his subjects. The observations are variously severe, humorous, and ironic, but never delivered in a condescending tone. We've all been there at least once, and if we haven't we know someone who has. Terrible things happen to the people in these poems. And they do terrible things. But instead of trying to describe the tone and tenor of these fabulously realized snapshots of the underbelly of American life, here are some examples from Dennis Gulling's The Blood Dark Sea.

FINGER

Toby the busboy

Found the finger

On top of the urinal

It was cut clean and smooth

Had dirt under

The chewed-down nail

Felt cold and hard

Like a carrot

He stuck it in his shirt pocket

And when she wasn’t looking

Dropped it in the cashier’s purse

Then asked her for a Kleenex

TANNER

Sounds of balls hitting pins

People yelling, laughing

And jukebox music

Drifted through the back door

Of Kingston Lanes

Where Tanner and I

Sat in his pickup

He kept saying

That bitch

That bitch

While he unwrapped

The towel off his left hand

And stared at the empty space

Where his thumb had been

Said she did it with a hatchet

When he was passed out drunk

No goodbye

No suitcases

Just left with his thumb

Crazy whore was always

Pulling shit like that

But it could have been worse he said

And rubbed his crotch

With his 4 good fingers

"The Knife" by illustrator Jenny Mathews

LARRY SIMPSON’S MOTHER

Larry Simpson was playing

Cards at my house when

His sister came pounding

On the door saying

Their mom had gone crazy

And torched her house

When we got there

There were fire trucks

Police cars and crowds

All over the place

And Larry’s mom was standing

In a yard across the street

In a housecoat and shower cap

Laughing like a kid

With big long tears smearing her cheeks

She had a tv remote in her hand

And every few minutes

She’d point it at the flames

And try to change the channel

You can buy The Blood Dark Sea at Zombie Logic Press 

Pin It