Earlier this year, Souvenir Spoon Books published Gregg Shapiro’s Refrain in Light. With its sly nod to the 1980’s album by the Talking Heads, Refrain in Light embraces the historical geography of place, remembering what has come before and celebrating with odes to what is here now. In this Americana road trip of poems you’ll find verse both vintage (a “bicentennial Viewmaster”) and contemporary (“a blue land crab crossing Ocean Drive” in South Beach). Shapiro is a cultural critic and scholar of the heart who asks “whose homeland is this anyway?” In fact, this book is full of questions — What does fire want? What does a tornado want? Must we listen to songs from the Armageddon soundtrack? Read Refrain in Light to find out. It is only “Once in a Lifetime” that a poet like Gregg Shapiro comes around. Here’s a sample poem:
SoFlo Barbie Rescue
The worst part about living in South Florida isn’t elder
abuse or vaccine hesitancy, the humidity, or hurricanes.
It’s all the orphaned Barbies, in various stages of undress
and distress, piled like junkyard cars at American Thrift,
Goodwill and Hadassah Resale. Knotted, discolored, and
hacked hair, ink-stained skin and Sharpied pubic region,
missing a limb, with a double mastectomy. At least
the queens who shop at Out of the Closet on Wilton Drive
know how to make Barbie feel loved and valued again.
Take her home to mid-century architecture and decor.
Bathe her in Calgon, shampoo her damaged locks with
Kerastase Discipline Bain Fluidealiste, massage coconut
oil into her cracking scalp. Apply Lancome Hydra Zen
to her visage. Christian Louboutin Silky Satin Lip Colour
to make her perpetual smirk even more desirable, kissable.
Nothing but Chanel Le Vernis tints her finger and toenails.
A diminutive, white gold Rolex Oyster Perpetual Day-Date 36
with diamond-paved dial, diamond-set bezel and a diamond-set
President bracelet wrapped around her slender, tapered wrist.
Tiffany diamond studs for her ears with matching diamond
and platinum pendant for her throat. Dressed to the nines;
Stuart Weitzman Cinderella slippers adorn her perfectly
pedicured and arched feet. Only vintage Valentino or Karl
Lagerfeld will do when it comes to her gowns, to be worn on
the red carpet at galas or picking up a few nibblies at Sprouts.
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Author: Denise Duhamel
