Said the Shotgun to the Head

This is vital. And while I am too young to truly remember what it was like in the immediate aftermath of September 11, and the years that followed (in which this poem came about), but I feel like it has only have grown more so over time.

, said the shotgun to the head. is a panacea for, and an antithetical statement against, the various perceptions of otherness and difference that increasingly divide us; as well as the egotist doomsday-ers whose various worlds are constantly in peril from these others.

This is perfect-bound love. Not 2a.m. sweet nothing love, not grandma's love of gratitude, but more like the stern, angry, disbelieving love of your mother when you roll in drunk and high and covered in hickeys at 2 in the morning on a show more school night at 16. Both depthless, and depthlessly livid.

Seek it out and put it in your brain already.

Shout-out to Blackalicious for having the balls to include a 5-minute beat poem on a 2002 hip-hop album and indirectly leading me to find this work. show less

Saul Williams' second volume of poetry is a tidal wave of visual verse that turns words to ciphers and breathes life into symbols. A declaration of independent from the phallic tomb. A revolution to move ALL-kind back into the cosmic womb so they can be re-born. Arresting and refreshing.

While I really enjoy some of Saul Williams' poetry and have especially enjoyed watching some of him perform (yes, perform, not recite) some of his poetry in the past, this particular book was, to be blunt, utter dribble. It is packed full of feminist, anti-Christian garbage all written with a condescending, smarter-than-thou tone and all equally based upon an ignorant understanding of the world and an apparent complete lack of knowledge of either the history and dynamics of Western culture or of Christianity. And, to boot, it's a terrible excuse for "poetry." Avoid this one like a steaming pile in a cow pen.

The first two sections were quite good. After that it starts to get rather silly. Section 8 and onwards sound an awful lot like 5-Percent Nation 'building'.

4.5
Feminist street prophet who loves a good pash

Passionate, clever, intense.

Poetry will save your life.