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KeithGordan recommended Badlands (1973) in Movies (curated)

Badlands (1973)

1973 | Crime, Drama

9.3

(4 Ratings)

Movie Favorite

"If Terry Gilliam was my “wild man” hero in my youth, then Terrence Malick was my poet. Both of these films were textbooks on how films can transcend simple storylines with visual poetry. Both still hold a tremendous amount of power today, and I try to rewatch them at least once a year for a shot of inspiration."

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Kudos

KeithGordan recommended Days of Heaven (1978) in Movies (curated)

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Maggie Nelson recommended The Selected Poems of T'ao Ch'ien in Books (curated)

The Selected Poems of T'ao Ch'ien

David Hinton | 2000 | Fiction & Poetry, History & Politics

(0 Ratings)

Book Favorite

"Another book that brought me to poetry, and which never seems to get old (and this despite the fact that T’ao Ch’ien lived from 365 – 427 C.E.). I consider T’ao Ch’ien a calm, necessary friend holding out a hand across time: “A thousand years may be beyond me, / but I can turn this morning into forever.”"

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The Chocolate Lady (94 KP) rated The Collected Works of Billy the Kid in Books

Oct 7, 2020

This is a unique hybrid of poetry and prose, mixed with both historical fact and fiction based on the true life story of the famous American outlaw William Bonney, who was better known as "Billy the Kid". You can read my full review here. https://tcl-bookreviews.com/2014/11/15/so-fascinating-it-should-be-outlawed/

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Complete Poems

Alfred Lord Tennyson

(0 Ratings) Rate It

Book

The greatest poet of the Victorian era deserves a place in the digital library of all lovers of...

Stuff I've been feeling lately

Alicia Cook

6.0 (1 Ratings) Rate It

Book

Structured like an old-school mix-tape, Stuff I've Been Feeling Lately is Alicia Cook's lyric...

Poetry

Eilidh G Clark (177 KP) rated Optograms in Books

May 13, 2017

Optograms

Stephen Watt | 2016 | Fiction & Poetry

10.0

(1 Ratings)

Book Rating

Everything (0 more)

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Great Collection

Stephen Watt is a poet and spoken word artist from Dumbarton. I stumbled upon his work by accident, and was drawn by his likeness in style to a favourite poet of mine, Raymond Carver. Delighted by what I had read, I preceded to watch some of his spoken word performances on You Tube. I was not disappointed. Watt’s poetry and indeed his spoken word delivery, is smart, punchy, intelligent and contemporary. I was delighted to be offered the opportunity to review his new poetry pamphlet Optograms, published by Wild Word press in 2016. Optograms is a wonderful representation of Watt’s finest work, and is a fresh new approach to Scottish poetry. The poet tackles some controversial topics such as prostitution, homelessness, and gender as well as delving into the more intimate topics such as miscarriage and Alzheimer’s. The imagery is his work is striking and each word and line carefully crafted, but it is the way in which the poems radiate emotion that make this work unique. The readers need look no further than the opening poem to get an understanding of the poet’s compassion and understanding of contemporary society. ‘Lipstick’ explores gender representation and discrimination,
I go to my room, wiping
the admirer’s lipstick clean
with tights beneath jeans
retrieved from a friend’s house,
and with the words
Big Girl’s Blouse
reverberating inside my head

This poem speaks volumes in so little words and the reader is forced to look inwardly at their own behaviour toward people who do not conform to the norm. Similarly, ‘Prayers to Aliens and Satellites’ is a raw and candid view of homelessness which digs deep into the readers conscience,
where bloodless, xylophonic fingers
sink into armpits –
petitioned hands closed to benefits
and the friendships of passersby.

Like the previous poem, ‘Prayers to Aliens and Satellites’ urges the reader to become more aware of the social problems in society. If these poems are not enough to capture the heart of the reader, Watt surprises us with his heart crushing honesty in poems such as ‘Clinics Lip’ – a grief stricken account of miscarriage,
A husband, once the acme of affection,
now lollygagging in the garden;
crossmaker in waiting
for the small plot earmarked for the hill’s crest.

My own personal favourite is ‘Trouble was Someone Else’s Kid’, a short account of childhood memories, like a fragment of memoir condensed into neatly arranged stanza’s. There is something funny yet tragic about this poem that brought to me both nostalgia and a desire to relive my own fading youth.
We moved in shadows, kept the lid
on, as if peanut butter sandwiches
had pasted our lips together.
Other neighbourhoods sizzled
with pyromaniacs and politics,
alcoholics who played tin whistles
when Di and Charles got hitched.

These are only a few of the delights that can be found in this little treasure of a pamphlet and I would urge poetry lovers as well as those who are new to poetry to seek out a copy of this work. With twenty-six wonderful poems Optograms, is undoubtedly one of the best collections of contemporary Scottish poetry that I have read.
To learn more about the Stephen Watt you can visit The Scottish Poetry Library, http://www.scottishpoetrylibrary.org.uk/poetry/poets/stephen-watt or like his Facebook page @StephenWattSpit. Optograms, can be purchased from stephenwattspit299@gmail.com or the publisher Marc Sherland marcsherland@me.com at Wild Word Press.