“If we ever get to where we want to go, I swear I will erupt, as a wingless bird carried up by my own bloodless imagination, untethered as the hand of a god.” -from The Strap-on Speaks Poetry is a seductive little fella. When it comes to discovering new work, we have the privilege & opportunity of putting so much of our personalities and blood into our poems that we become them, and when done write, our poems wink and grow come-hither fingers asking the reader, ‘don’t ya wanna read more?’ Kendra DeColo’s work drew me in. I found a set of poems from her & I was hooked. I binged on poem after poem the same way her poems binge on desire. Kendra’s work is so filled with a bone-quivering want that I cannot help to want myself; when she needs, I need, and what can you do but shudder when standing before her brilliant articulation of yearning? Shudder, that’s what. Maybe drool, as I often find my mouth agape after reading Kendra’s brilliance. These are poems that are fully aware and embracive of pleasure and pain, poems that are aware of their senses. Her work is willing to touch, leaving no body part unaware of its song, These poems are bursting out of their seams with sound and music, and at the same time they are drenched in every color from the 125 piece crayon set owned by the coolest kid in your 3rd grade class. Kendra’s work is indeed cool, which might be a dangerous word. While her work is all at once urgent, needed, gentle, and pushing us forward, I still find myself saying ‘that was f**king awesome’ after I finish that last exhausting line. Her work is cognizant of our generation and how we were shaped and broken down, hence she speaks in a language that is relatable as it is beautiful, colloquial & inventive in the same breathe. People, let Kendra DeColo into your world! She will be here for a minute, and when she becomes one of your new favorites and eventually takes over the world with her poetry, I won’t even say ‘I told you so.’ Comments are closed.
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