Bus Pass
Alan King
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http://alanwking.wordpress.com
Male
28 years old
FORT WASHINGTON, MARYLAND
United States
Last Login: 11/10/2009
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Bus Pass's Interests
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| Books | Praise for TRANSFER
King’s subject matter makes the journey across the Atlantic
easily enough, but his African-American background comes
through strongly too, giving the book a distinctive flavour,
and all the food and drink in there points up the sensual nature
of many of the poems—smell, touch and taste are very
important to this poet.
....................-Sphinx Magazine
...referring to both the literal bus pass and
the larger transitional mode...a majority of
these poems...are concerned with social flux.
...The contexts vary from the romantic to
the political to the neighborhood; the speaker
definitely has a DC voice, and it's satisfying
to see casual references to local fixtures like
Ben's Chili Bowl or Tryst.
These vignettes of local life really came alive
to me. ...overall this is a collection of great
promise, and I look forward to seeing more
of King's poems in print.
....................-Sandra Beasley
[Transfer] defies expectation - the poems don't let the reader
off easy, they shine lights on issues of race and class and gender,
and there's a great moment when men in a barbershop consider
9/11 with the right balance of unease and grace. The juxtaposition
of casual overheard language and song lyrics and the prickly
insights of the internal life of the speaker make for interesting
reading. When talking about violence between men and women in
a poem called "perceptions," the speaker imagines himself
"protecting her/ from anglers she will mistakenly see/ as angels."
Other poets make appearances in this chapbook (AI,
Maya Angelou) as do nightclub scenes, Al Green, and, oddly,
Steve Irwin. Entertaining and slightly caustic, I look forward
to more of King's work.
....................-Jeanine
In Transfer, Alan King's speakers always report
the news we don't hear at 11 o'clock. These are
voices of eyewitnesses who pay close attention to
the details of a day and of many lives.
King accomplishes the classic mission of the poet
who chronicles the history and culture of a people
in a voice we can trust and remember. The dynamics
of relationships are at the foreground of the
storytelling, but the lyric music beneath the
telling is about the space and the time in which
it all takes place.
Beyond that, if you listen closely, it's also
about male vulnerability in the face of all that's
moving around us--countering the media, the gossip
and the innuendo that wants us to believe
otherwise. Transfer has the news of the day.
Come read all about it.
....................-Guggenheim-winning poet A. Van Jordan
Transfer...is deceptively compelling...The urbane
sensibility from which King draws his material is
particularly modern, discussing such subjects as
a fourteen-year-old foray into phone sex, trips to
the market as a youngster, and watching his sister
watch boys. If King's poems are reminiscent of
someone, in their playful and ambiguous word games,
it might be Kevin Young. These poems draw the reader
back into the days of youth, when life was fun
and confusing.
....................-levelpoetry.com
"King treats the reader to cityscapes that pulse with intense lyrical
poetry that is vivid...to travels in the streets, subways and barber
shops...King's poems reach for that which is out of ones grasp
building a tension that tightens the wire but does not break it."
....................-G Emil Reutter
"I am impressed with [King's] writing...[his] vigor and energy."
....................-Marita Golden
Reading [Transfer,] I was struck by the differences
in the cityscapes [King] depicts...his work is certainly
filled with a thumping pulse...His protagonists are
filled with desire not only for women, but for
something that is constantly outside their grasp.
And it is this tension that is most compelling.
....................-Elbows on the Table
The poems are physical — the smell of fast food
and bus exhaust hangs in the air, mouths are
beguiling orchids, and the crowd on a dance floor
is a sensuous “black body marmalade.” In King’s
urban drama, the players are eager, lonely, cagey,
or blind. Most want something without quite knowing
what it is, and are afraid they’ll find it, lose it,
or love it to death.
....................-William Michaelian
[Transfer] is a compassionate tour through
urban neighborhoods and lives. An intimate
rendering told with clarity and reflection.
....................-the happy booker
Everybody knows you're supposed to give the drummer some.
The poems in Alan King's fierce debut "transfer" seem to say
"Home is where the beat is." Your head will nod to the back rhythms
of these cuts, issuing from his "sweet urge ringing in the blood."
....................-Major Jackson, Associate Professor
of English at University of Vermont
I was laughing, crying, and overall impressed with the
soul and technique of [this] work.
....................-Kenneth Carroll,
executive director of DC WritersCorps
Talk about global warming, people should be worrying
about Alan King's new chapbook, TRANSFER. Desire moves
through these pages like a heat wave. Reading these
poems took me back to those old "house parties" we had
back in Philly: brothas and sistas down in the basement
dancin', sweatin', sizzlin' for that sweet connection,
but steady tryin' to look cool. Seriously, you feel this
book like the first really hot day after a long, long
winter. There's a lot of poetry in the world, but not
much of it crunks like TRANSFER.
....................-Tim Seibles, professor in the MFA program
at Old Dominion University
Transfer is warm and relatable, so much so that
the reader starts to believe that King has been living
their life.
....................-Howard University's "Hilltop"
In Transfer, King is a shaman of nostalgia...for capturing snapshots
of everyday living...one becomes aware that King is both a keen
observer and a man who champions the unfettered love of a man
and woman. He takes mental snapshots of moments that untrained
eyes would overlook and, by elucidating them, chides the
nearsighted viewer for not noticing such instance...King deserves a
working title as Poet Laureate of U Street. Even if you've walked
U street a thousand times, in Transfer it is several times renewed.
....................-Hamida Kinge, a contributing writer
for the Philly City Paper
This book takes you around the DC neighborhoods.
a poem about every block? Cafe?...If I was looking
for a clue to explain how and why DC was changing
so quickly, it would begin here
...
i want to be the heat's moist mouth
sliding down your body, ride a
streetcar winding through the avenues
of your sloping districts
You'll never hear Fenty or Cropp talk like this.
So...VOTE for poetry.
....................-E. Ethelbert Miller, D.C.'s literary activist
Transfer is a delightfully candid collection
of poetry by [a] young African-American poet
who splices urban sentiment with a universal
veracity comparable to the writings of Major Jackson,
E. Ethelbert Miller or Haki Madhubuti. The book
is separated into three sections each containing
vignettes of distinct experiences in the poets life
as a young man experiencing sexuality, love (of both
women and the bond of brothahood), and the social
constructs between races, all approached with a
relative humor, and yet cleverly sincere voice.
....................-Maisha Perkins, a graduate
of the MFA program at Sarah Lawrence
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Bus Pass's Details
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| Status: | Single | | Here for: | Networking | | Orientation: | Straight | | Body type: | 6' 1" / Average | | Ethnicity: | Black / African descent | | Zodiac Sign: | Aquarius | | Smoke / Drink: | No / No | | Children: | Someday | | Education: | In college |
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About me:
Alan King's poems have appeared in Warpland: A Journal
of Black Literature & Ideas, Tule Review, The Amistad,
and Fingernails Across the Chalkboard: Poetry and Prose
on HIV/AIDS from the Black Diaspora among others. His
work was also part of the Belfast Exposed: Photographs
of Anacostia, a collaborative exhibit with photos and
literary works, showcasing the life and energy of Anacostia
in Southeast Washington, D.C. Alan has written articles for
NewAmericaMedia.org, Prince George's County Gazette,
East of the River, District Chronicles, and Washingtonpost.com.
He is the author of his chapbooks "Transfer" and "The Music
We Are" -- also the name of full-length manuscript. You can
purchase "Transfer" for $7 through paypal's safe and secure
method by clicking on the BUY NOW button below.
their own brand
Mark Russell, 34, of Northeast Washington, D.C.
i'm always paranoid when i cross
the threshold--anticipating that
moment a barrel's pressed to the back
of my head, a voice demanding
my immediate possessions
i'm still a little uneasy when
a packed car pulls up beside
me at traffic lights--rap blasting
through open windows
i usually don't make eye contact
just the other day, a kid was
shot for looking at somebody
the wrong way
with the news constantly
reminding us we haven't quite
figured out how to live with
each other, can you blame me
you don't think they're just as
threatened when they see me
walking my Terrier or jogging
after midnight
that for them, the sight of me
means condos and coffee shops
are coming with increased
police presence
how do you think i feel, watching
the metro riders smirk at one another
when i've seemingly missed my stop
and wandered into their part of town
as if i haven't been living
there for six months already
my neighbors weren't exactly
thrilled when i moved in, i over-
heard a kid telling his friend
there goes the neighborhood
it's scary sometimes, knowing
my skin's synonymous to so much
of this country's harsh history
that i look a lot like
the policy makers who are
sending these kids to war
how many times do i have to
go on pretending not to hear
the young punks imitating my
inflections and calling me "Bobby"
you don't think i have the urge
sometimes to feed them their own
brand of humor, to show them
that i can get ignant, too
but then, where does that get us?
two takes on
the word
i.
in my brother's artwork,
wired stick figures are glued
to cardboard paper
one of them is holding a bat
while others surround a kneeling
body they kick and stomp
i ask Drew, what's the title?
he says, "White Boy Said the
N-Word"
ii.
sophomores then, we looked
around the dining hall to see
if anyone else heard him
Steffan and i shared a table
with a freckled-face red-head
who used the N-word to address
his black friend sitting with him
before that moment, we swore
we'd rip the head off any of them
brave or stupid enough
to use that word around us
we should have grabbed his collar,
yanked him over the table and
stomped him like those stick-figures
fed up with the sense of entitlement
some folks walk around with
but all we could do was watch
the brotha embrace his white friend
laughing as if one of us had said it
Foghorn Leghorn's Lament
now hold--i say, hold on now.
hawk or no hawk, it ain't right
for that boy to go terrorizin'
older folks like that
shootin' them with arrows,
callin' himself big chickenhawk
engine and dancin' with
his feathered head-piece
like some crazy mohawkin
so what if his kind hunts and
eats what we are--he's still a boy!
i tell him, you can't--i say,
can't go makin' more noise than
a couple of skeletons throwin'
a fit on a tin roof, sonny
and it ain't--i say, ain't smart to
go round bitin' folks bigger than you
that's how you get hurt
Miss Prissy tell me all the time
to let the boy be; that at his age
he's harmless
and i always tell my lammy pie
there's a whole--i say, whole 'lotta
eggs with the crazy notion they're
too fresh for they own yolk
at his age, he need--i say, need
to learn to mind us better, honey bun
and stop this stuff bout survival of
the fittest and all that other nonsense
Barnyard Dawg ain't--i say,
ain't much better for yokin'
the boy along with his mischief,
tellin him new ways to trap me
so i tell sonny he been lied to
for so long, and that all--
i say, all this time i was a horse
instead of a rooster
then i point to that silly dawg
smilin' like a boozehound
after badgerin' ol' foghorn
there--i say, there's your
chicken, boy. all four legs.
go on over and taste him, sonny.
i'm sure you'll like it.
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