Stefene Russell's manly love song

So like I was saying, there will be a poetry performance at Mad Art (2727 South 21st St.) at 7:30 p.m. Monday, January 30 to close The Shape of a Man group art show. The event is free and open to the public. Mad Art will run a cash bar.

The performing poets will be K. Curtis Lyle, Stefene Russell, Nicky Rainey and Chris King (that's me), reading in the opposite order of that list. Leading up to the event, I plan to post a little more info about each of the poets, along with one of their more "manly" poems.


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Love Song
By Stefene Russell

He’s herbaceous. He’s a creeper.
A Mandrake in a crumpled suit
strutting his stuff down the street.

He thinks he’s a black angel,
but he’s just a dark green one
that looks darker after midnight,

A metallic singing telegram
with heavy elements
in place of vowels.

He tries the fake-out.
Says he bears flowers.
A bract is a flower
made from leaves
that aren’t green.
A dogwood has wood
but no flowers.

He says he’s The Deleter.
The lady says,
Bract, broken, bled.

Grains of gunpowder.
Itch of the firecracker
under the paper.
Red stars! Blue stars!
Saltpetre, motherfucker.

I see through you,
conjurer, with your
dark green magic.


(c) 2012 Stefene Russell. All rights reserved.

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Stefene Russell is the culture editor at St. Louis Magazine, and the former co-editor of 52nd City and Prinssess Tarta literary magazines. She is currently a member of Poetry Scores, an arts collective that translates poetry into other media. Manliest fact: she once won an arm-wrestling match in a bar with a guy named Friend, but suspects it was rigged in her favor.

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Also in this series:

K. Curtis Lyle's freedom is the Monster Among Us.