Thursday, December 4, 2014

A.J. Huffman's "Honey, You Got to Slow Down" and "Singing Without Words"




This morning I'd like to welcome poet, editor, and publisher A.J. Huffman to The Song Is...  A poem about a little red Corvette is the perfect way to begin the next to last day of the Fall semester's classes!  Perhaps the poem will inspire you to write your own poem about driving for A.J.'s upcoming anthology, Objects in the Rear View Mirror (Deadline: March 31).


Honey, You Got to Slow Down
            Inspired by Little Red Corvette by Prince.
A pocket full of horses has nothing
on the curve.  The smooth ride
of a low-ridden arch of your back,
overexaggerated by swollen
muscles that push me to the verge of being
obscene.  I am a little red, and running
myself into the ground.  Together we turn.
I end up dented beneath your wheels,
spinning in tempestuous circles.  You park me
sideways, in silhouette.
I do not understand
the levels of your body’s garage.  Gimme
the key, I am going to try to ride the sunset down
towards your knees. 
I have no desire to become another
momentary memory, notched into nothing. 
Your kiss is a breath of wind.  My lips are hell-bent
on running free.



Singing Without Words
She has not reached her first birthday,
has not conquered the brain/tongue coordination
to form a single, multi-syllabic word, and yet
this diminutive diva stands, center stage
in her playpen, screeches in tune to whatever
musical, quasi-reality nightmare is playing on TV.  As if
psychically linked with the songs she cannot possibly
understand, she breaks at appropriate intervals, changes
pitch and tone to suit her vision of another redundant cover
tune.  Minnie-Mouse-eared microphone, firmly gripped
in fist, she is the true star of this show, does not stop
as long as the orchestra plays.


A.J. Huffman has published nine solo chapbooks and one joint chapbook through various small presses. She also has two new full-length poetry collections forthcoming, Another Blood Jet (Eldritch Press) and A Few Bullets Short of Home (mgv2>publishing). She is a Pushcart Prize nominee, and her poetry, fiction, and haiku have appeared in hundreds of national and international journals, including Labletter, The James Dickey Review, Bone Orchard, EgoPHobia, Kritya, and Offerta Speciale, in which her work appeared in both English and Italian translation. She is also the founding editor of Kind of a Hurricane Press. www.kindofahurricanepress.com 

For your listening pleasure....

I would post Little Red Corvette, but from what I've seen, Prince is protective of his copyright.  So let's include other driving songs and songs about daughters.  In turn, I encourage you to buy songs by some of the artists I do post.



Here is Gene Clark's "Roadmaster": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=50mrpvXCmME  

"The Radio Song" is another song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0DYik1S27rI

"Train Leaves Here This Morning" is for all of us non-drivers, though:

I'll (ahem) shift gears with Monk's "Boo-Boo's Birthday" (Boo-Boo was his daughter.)

And finish with a little scat from Ella Fitzgerald: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PbL9vr4Q2LU



5 comments:

  1. LOVE "Honey, You Got To Slow Down" :) nice job A.J. :) A submission about driving is coming your way :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you so much for the complement and the support of our press as well as this wonderful site! Can't wait to see what you're sending!

      Delete
  2. wonderful poet, wonderful editor, wonderful, wonderful, wonderful

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. What a wonderful, wonderful string of complements from an equally talented peer! Thank you so much Joan

      Delete

  3. An interesting interview. I ran across your name in a Google search of my
    name, Catfish McDaris (you spelled it McDarish, but that's okay) I'm glad
    you like my story from Blue Hour enough to teach it. I know Russell at
    Camel Saloon and sort of know AJ I'd like to get in touch, I'm on face book.
    Ppigpenn used to be my blog.

    ReplyDelete