Rudy Francisco

Reflections on race, gender, mental illness -- and love, naturally!

(Full disclosure: I received a free copy of this book for review through Goodreads.)

Your God stole my God's identity.
So next time you bend your knees,
next time you bow your head
I want you to tell your God
that my God is looking for him.
("To the Man Standing on the Corner Holding the Sign That Said 'God Hates Gays'")

Once, a friend of a friend asked me
why there aren't more black people in the X Games
and I said, "You don't get show more it."
Being black is one of the most extreme sports in America.
("Adrenaline Rush")

Some days I forget that my skin
is not a panic room.
("My Honest Poem")

###

The first poem in Helium, "Water," took my breath away - and more or less set the tone for the entire volume.

I have a terrible time reviewing poetry; I can't tell you whether a poem is "good," technically speaking, only if I liked it. Even then I fear I'm a poor barometer, since I'm as likely to understand it as not.

But Rudy Francisco's poetry is accessible AF. Also daring, insightful, passionate, and unfiltered. I especially adore the poems that tackle mental illness - which is no surprise, as I struggle with anxiety and depression myself, and thus find this genre incredibly relatable and applicable to my own life.

Many of these pieces appear in Parts I and II; but it's those poems centered on social justice issues (Part III) that really stunned me speechless. "Adrenaline Rush," "Rifle II," "To the Man Standing on the Corner Holding the Sign That Said 'God Hates Gays'" -- these poems will stick with me long after Helium claims its permanent home on my bookshelves. Not that it will stay there indefinitely: this is a book I'm likely to revisit again in the future.





Though Francisco is at his best when writing about social justice issues - toxic masculinity, misogyny, religious intolerance, art as resistance, police brutality, etc. - I cared less for his love poems. Though I suppose it could just be the jaded, 39-year-old widow in me silently screaming, "Please don't be a love poet!"

I also actively disliked "Complainers" (to paraphrase: if you've never had to saw your own arm off with a rusty butterknife, stfu!), which is kind of a bummer: the second-to-last poem in the book, it left a bitter taste in my mouth.

I rarely read physical books anymore - I'm more an ebook kind of gal - but I found the font a little on the small side, and unnecessarily so, since many of the pages are dominated by white space. Borderline hard-to-read for my nearly middle-aged eyes.

These are all fairly minor complaints, though, given the sheer genius and raw emotion embodied in Helium.

 


Contents

I
Water
Good Morning
Ouch
Page
Drive
Horizon
Instructions
My Honest Poem
Machine
Correctly
12 am
Sip
Petal
To the Girl Who Works at Starbucks…
Alternatives to “Bae”
If I Was a Love Poet
Again

II
Sinking
When People Ask How I’m Doing
Mess
Vanish
Why Did You Leave?
Scars
Museum
To the Random Dude…
Haunted
How Did You Lose Her?
Chameleon
Windows and Mirrors
Lopsided
To You
To Him
And Then After

III
Waves
Skin II
Adrenaline Rush
Accent
98
Meal
Margin
Liberty
To the Man Standing on the Corner Holding the Sign That Said "God Hates Gays"
Brother
Sister
Rifle II
Simeona
In the Voice of Hip Hop
I Bet the Trees Are Thinking
Roulette
Mercy

IV
Forgiveness
Capacity
Strength
Cookout
Welcome
Silence
Complainers
Yes show less

"Tell me a story
and let's laugh like it's the only
thing keeping us alive.

Play a song
and give the stereo
permission to use its
outside voice.

Let's sing loudly,
offbeat and out of tune..
Let the world know
we don't care how it sounds
because the only key we need
is already in the ignition."

(from Drive)

Poetry is indeed food for the soul. The cover of Rudy Francisco's first book of poems attracts immediate attention, but it is the poems that will slide into your thoughts and demand your attention. show more Divided into four sections, each roughly corresponds to a different theme. Section III was particularly good, with thoughts on race, gender and identity, deserving several reads. II is about the end of a relationship and was my least favorite. IV is perhaps about survival and hope, and I is about identity, various thoughts and falling in love, but you know how poetry is.

His style reminds me a bit of Adrienne Rich; no particular rhyme or metre, with enough unused space to let you know each word is quite chosen. There are poems in the first section that feel a little too arch, a little too self-conscious, but not often. These are probably the ones that most benefit from performance.
Still, he charmed me with 'Ouch':

"Yesterday, I injured myself
and the explanation didn't make sense.

I said, "Well, I was walking..."
and that was the end of the story.

At this age,
my body is a stranger that I
keep meeting over and over again."

Skin II was one of the poems in the section on race that I found profound in imagery and parallels, perhaps a way for the unaware to understand the burden of racial representation.

"When you are the only black man
in the whole neighborhood,

your skin is that one friend who
meets everyone before you do.

It wears a wife beater
and house shoes,

it knocks over the
neighbor's mailbox,

it cusses in front of the kids
and plays the music too loud

but you actually don't do
any of those things."

I also really loved Accent
and how it connected culture with food:

"My mother's accent is
the most popular brand
of salt in her country.

She gently sprinkles a little on
every word before she allows
them to pass her lips.

This is a ceremony that happens
every time she has something to say"

It turns out Francisco gained fame as a spoken word poet. Here's a performance of his interesting, insightful and painful self-poem, 'My Honest Poem': https://www.youtube.com/watch?reload=9&v=dDa4WTZ_58M
It's very interesting, listening to the emotion and speed of his words, as I imagine them in a much deeper, slower cadence. There appears to be more humor than I would have expected, although perhaps the audience is just aware of rawness, and the laughs are uncomfortable, or supportive; I don't know. But I think I prefer the voice in my head.

Two of the most moving poems in section III are on YouTube. 'Adrenaline Rush' takes a hard look at white privilege and gets a very deservedly hushed reception. It's an extremely powerful, truthful poem and his performance is riveting. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jh09jZ49N9g
I loved The Heart and the Fist when I read it, but the performance was equally breathtaking: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8IHYA1l7Yew

One of the only modern poetry books I've been inspired to purchase. Highly recommended. Remaining on my 'currently reading' list so I can keep picking it up. Note: all poems quoted are partial, but unedited. show less

A poetry collection about love, heartbreak, discovery, race, racism, and anger. I don't read poetry. To love poetry you must love the language, I merely like the language. I don't know if these are artful, profound, or even good. I can't properly evaluate these poems. I am a poor judge of poetry. But I liked these poems, that read more like statements than poems. More like open thoughts than conclusions. A collection I could get behind.

Helium

I Picked Up This Book Because: I ran across the poet randomly on Facebook and have been stalking (what I thought was one poem it’s actually 3 in this book) ever since.

The Characters:

The Story:

Part I:
Rudy insists he is not a love poet in one of his works in this part, If I Was a Love Poet. Rudy is a liar. It has taken me days to get through part one because the notions that he puts forth through his words have been enough to shock me into stillness and a need to reflect on said words. show more If I can’t be loved half as well as this I’m going to be single forever. (I was already going to be single forever I shouldn’t put that weight on these words)

Part II:
The major theme in part 2 is heartbreak. Relationships that have gone awry. The thoughts and ideas are just as poignant and thoughtful as part one.

Part III:
Life. I am blown away.

Part IV:

I am in awe of the talent represented on these pages. I’d like to wallpaper a room with these poems.

The Random Thoughts:

5 Stars show less